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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.
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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 Izumi Yamamura on Oct 27, 2014 7:11:28 GMT -5
After the joint effort in digging through the Badlands—Izumi was left to wonder just… what the hell had happened to Josh; having seen him go off like that. She could only scratch her head in wonder as she texted him a few hours afterward, asking if he was okay—and by the sound of things, he did seem to be alright. Now that their first joint effort had somewhat gone off without a hitch, she was now waiting at another one of the cafes that littered the streets of the biggest city in the Kalos region, sitting at one of the outside tables and waiting for her next order to arrive. She’d sent him another voice message asking him to meet her at this particular café (she’d even texted him the name just so he didn’t get lost) because she suddenly remembered that they had another agenda to deal with—and this was of the fact that now she, Josh (and most probably her shisho) were all within the same region, she could finally get their meeting set up.
That is, assuming all goes well… she thought to herself as she then reached for the tall paper cup and taking a drink out of it, fiddling with her mobile phone. She’d seen some interesting messages from her sponsored Breeder, and was wondering when he would be delivering his “payload” to her—he’d found some other weird-looking marbles that she was absolutely certain she didn’t own as of the present time. So he’s also digging in the Badlands, huh… that explains why sometimes I think I see him out there… or maybe it’s just me. Whatever. As long as he’s willing to pass the other stones to me then I don’t mind… she thought to herself as she scanned the passers-by, wondering if Josh would be able to make it in time for their next “quick meeting”. She’d go over some additional details for their eventual gathering with her master; among other things—this also included some other plans she had in mind for Doug and Max.
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WORDS 347 TAGSJosh Dragomir NOTESWe do love our quick meetings eh
Post by Josh Dragomir on Oct 27, 2014 10:08:13 GMT -5
While Izumi had found what she was looking for in the Badlands, Josh had found nothing but useless junk. Now, normally he just tossed it aside and still had time left, but this time, his time ran out and all he could do was sell the useless trinket for pocket lint. Obviously the blonde was incredibly frustrated due to the timing, since his license expired after that dig and he couldn't go back until November. He was steaming mad, and hadn't meant to walk off like that, but he didn't feel like letting his frustrations out at Izumi. Nah, she didn't deserve that, and he wouldn't put that on her. It was why he had told her to just meet back in town.
Josh would come to the cafe that Izumi had asked them to meet in for some reason, after texting him. He would look around until he found Izumi, smiling a bit faintly. The blonde still looked a bit irritated from the day before, but Lightning was back on his shoulder as he always was. So that had to show at least a BIT of improvement.
"So, what's this about?" he asked once he sat down.
Post by Izumi Yamamura on Oct 28, 2014 8:07:16 GMT -5
Izumi had resorted to taking out her trusty notepad and was now writing in it when she heard a familiar voice address her; looking up she saw that Josh had arrived; and Lightning was back on his shoulder, as always. “Yeah… you do know how I like having unscheduled meetings on the agenda,” she began, passing him the menu. “Get anything, I’m paying,” she continued, before scribbling a few more notes down into the note pad; and then playing with the pen, spinning it between her fingers. After a few moments of silence, she then decided to get straight to the point. That’s why she’d called him over to this café, in the first place. “You remember our earlier conversations… of me deciding to have you meet my master?” she ventured, hoping that he did remember what they had talked about while burning up the phone lines.
“He’s also in Kalos at the moment, so I figured, why not have the two of you meet formally,”she said in a casual, off-hand manner, watching as the waiter then arrived with her order—she then took it from the tray with a few well-chosen words of the native Kalosian language. “I just hope their desserts are as good as how we make them in Lavaridge,” she remarked with a grin; before lifting up the fork and then cutting herself a slice of the thing in front of her—a sweet confection consisting of pound cake, actual strawberries, and whipped cream. “I kind of told him about you, and he said he’s game with meeting you, at least once he’s finished with his own digs in the Badlands area. I gave him a brief description of you. Nothing of the heavy history,” she said in a reassuring voice, waving her other hand, before continuing, “…just the fact that you know how to turn the tides of battle around in highly-unusual situations,” she ended with a grin on her face, before placing the loaded fork into her mouth and tasting the sweet treat.
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WORDS 340 TAGSJosh Dragomir NOTESYes quick meetings galore
Post by Josh Dragomir on Oct 30, 2014 9:25:03 GMT -5
He stuck his tongue out at her as he sat down. "Yeah yeah, I kind of figured that out" he teased, laughing a bit. "So whatcha got in mind this time?" he asked as he rested his chin on his raised hands, elbows on the table as he listened to her.
"Mhm" he said as she mentioned their earlier conversation. "I remember. I was actually wondering when we'd get to meet him. We've been talking about it for so long, that it's a given at this point. I assume this is probably the part where we meet him?" he asked, chuckling. "Or are you going to lead me on a wild goose chase again?" he teased.
She revealed he was in Kalos, and he nodded. "I see" he said. "I think I know where this is going" he said with a jolly laugh. She confirmed that statement, and he nodded to let her talk. He smirked as he ordered something and chuckled when she talked about Josh's... Unique style. "So we'll be seeing him soon then?" he asked.
Post by Izumi Yamamura on Oct 31, 2014 7:20:45 GMT -5
“Well, in a blunt manner of speaking—yes, this is the time when you finally get to meet my own master. I’ve been trying to look for a way for the two of you to meet without taking him from his ‘important business’ here in the Kalos region—so now that you’re here, it’s high time that you formally meet him,” she began, reaching into her pocket for her mobile phone before quickly dialing a number and then hearing the line ring—but getting directed to voice mail instead. Tch… shisho, I already got him here in Lumiose! Why aren’t you picking up your phone? She thought to herself as she then chose the option to leave him a voice mail message.
After she’d left the aforementioned message, she then hit the “End” button before placing the phone just atop the table—if in case it begun to ring. “Now, all we have to do is wait for him to show up. I know that he’s not busy around this time of the day, so just sit tight and order whatever,” she said with a grin as she then reached into another pocket and pulled out the exact same note pad that she was scribbling in ever since and began to make a few more notes; these were for the survival lessons she wanted to impart to Doug on their next few “training sessions” that they were going to have back home in the Hoenn region.
Post by Josh Dragomir on Oct 31, 2014 21:46:41 GMT -5
He chuckled a bit to her response, nodding. "I thought so" he said as his drink arrived. He sipped it casually as he listened to her. "I her you" he said. This master of hers sounded like a pretty busy guy... But Josh was in dire need of a tutor as much as Izumi was if they were going to have a chance in hell or Distorted World in going for that Tower Challenge. Mega Evolution knowledge was on the line, and Josh knew that they had to give it their all, and they would need every asset available to them in order to pull this off. They had no idea what was in store for them there, but they had to be prepared for all sorts of circumstances. "So where is he?" he asked as she picked up the phone. Voicemail, huh? Sounds like he was busy even if he was in the city!
"Well... Shit" he said, sighing. "I guess all we can do is sit and wait for him" he added, shrugging as he casually took another sip of his caffine drink. Soda. Whatever, right? He needed the energy, he was dead tired. Lightning would sneak a sip as well, and Josh would chuckle but allow it.
Post by Izumi Yamamura on Nov 5, 2014 6:38:15 GMT -5
“Yeah, looks like we got no other choice but to wait,” she said, as she grabbed the menu and continued to order more cakes—the first frothy treat had just the perfect balance of strawberries; and she wanted to try the caramel turtle pie that she’d noticed on the menu. And as always, the scribbling in her note pad didn’t go unnoticed, and she then looked up at him before scribbling a few more notes in it. “Well, what I’ve got written down here are some lesson plans—mostly they’re for Doug; since you already took Max under your wing back then, right? So I figured, I could teach Doug everything that I’ve picked up from travelling around a lot. Like… how to pitch a tent, how to make a fire… how to make a Secret Base of his own…” she trailed off with a grin; since Josh had already given her the idea of making a Secret Base away from Littleroot, she’d already begun looking around for a spot that was just far enough from Lavaridge that could serve as her second “home”.
“You did mention that Doug’s one heck of a battler, right? Well, I’m hoping to improve my skills with him too,” she continued, remembering that very interesting battle scenario they’d had over at Fortree quite recently. I’m also trying to think of ways on how to outmaneuver anyone while in battle, so maybe having all kinds of weird battles would help and make us adapt when we’re tossed in any kind of situation… she thought to herself as she continued to think of ideas before scribbling them down into the note pad. Soon afterwards, her next few orders had arrived—and if Josh had noticed, they were mostly sample slices of the different cakes that the café had boasted of being their “best sellers”. “Heh, dig in. I kind of bought one slice of everything I wanted to taste… and that’s not because I’m dead-hungry!” she added with a chuckle, before she dove for the caramel turtle pie slice; a piece of chocolate cake that had a layer of graham sandwiched in between, and was practically oozing caramel sauce and chocolate fudge.
Post by Josh Dragomir on Nov 5, 2014 22:34:49 GMT -5
He looked down at the treats she had ordered as she told him to dig in. He laughed a bit. "Sharing, huh? Don't mind if I do" he teased as he tried a few bites of the treats, politely taking pieces with a fork as he shoved little pieces into his mouth. Funny, the muscular guy with long blonde hair, decked out in the long jacket that looked like it came from Orre, maybe even looking like he was from there himself, politely eating little pieces with a fork and having a Pikachu on his shoulder. It was funny, people questioned why someone who looked like he did had a Pikachu on his shoulder already, but as Josh held up the fork for Lightning to take a bite out of one of the cakes, you could see exactly why.
"Hmm, interesting" he said between bites as he looked over Izumi's notes for Doug, taking a pen and writing down a few himself as Lightning snuck himself a few bites of the treats while Josh and Izumi were busy.
"Aye, battling with him regularly will be good. You two could improve off each other" he said. "Hopefully I can get Maxine off her ass and get her into this too. Battling regularly with one another will be great for our Pokemon and for ourselves" he said, taking a breath.
If he were a more normal person, then he might have imitated a white, aging Lopunny in a suit and dashed around in a panic in order to get to the agreed meeting location. But he wasn’t. He was Zernebog Romanov and he made his own rules and his own time.
Okay, so normally his rules called for him being punctual or even early to any meeting but since this was his student who had scheduled it at the last minute without knowing that it clashed with another one of his meetings with some of the museum curators in the city. He had been so busy that he had put his phone on silent and dealt with the more important meeting first before bothering to deal with the last-minute thing that his student had set up on a whim, mostly because he figured that he could bend his own rules for once in this case.
Now though, he was making good time for someone who was simply walking leisurely to the café he had agreed to meet her in. He had been in Luminose long enough to have at least figured out his way around the main streets with ease. He would have better knowledge on it if he hadn’t been spending so much time in the Badlands, but he couldn’t have it all.
It didn’t take him long to spot the familiar form of his student, who looked like she had already started eating what looked to be like a lot of food. With her was a scruffy blond with a scarf-wearing Pikachu on his shoulder. From what she had told him in her descriptions, this was definitely that Josh Dragomir that she wanted him to meet.
As he walked towards their table, he smirked as he started catching their conversation. He then blended in the crowd as best as he could, avoiding both of their line of sights as he waited for the right moment before stepping out of the crowd and behind the blond.
”Her master would be right behind you.” Zernebog dryly commented as he stood behind the scruffy blond seated with his student. ”Sorry I’m late. Had a meeting before this one.”
He then went around and took one of the open seats. ”You must be that guy that my student over here wanted to meet.” Zernebog commented as he glanced at the scruffy blond. ”Josh Dragomir, right?”
He extended a hand covered with leather bandages that concealed his steel gauntlet. ”Zernebog Romanov. Izumi has probably told you about me already, knowing her.”
Post by Izumi Yamamura on Nov 21, 2014 9:41:17 GMT -5
She could only chuckle as modestly as she could as she noticed that even he was acting all uppity and proper, even diving for the fork in order to be able to sample the dessert treats that she’d ordered. Well, I definitely can’t blame him for it, though… he’s tensed up due to the fact that he’s going to be meeting my master… she mused to herself as she then took quite a chunk of the caramel turtle pie, before flipping it to the opposite side so that Josh could take a good taste out of it. She then looked up and scanned the crowd; where was he anyway? Did he miss the message she’d left on his voice mail? She then shrugged, before turning her attention to a vanilla cake with fondant topping and frosted with real kiwi slices when she heard a voice speak up, and almost quite literally, attempted to flip the table over (but it was a bad idea, considering that it was loaded with all manner of desserts and drinks). Izumi then placed the fork beside the dish she was going to sample and stood up, out of the chair, before bowing respectfully in her shisho’s direction.
Gah, I really hate it when he does that… sneaking up on people and scaring the shit out of them… she mused, scanning Josh’s reaction—she was hoping that he wasn’t scared out of his wits; or at the very least startled to hear someone addressing him for the very first time; by sneaking up on him no less. She then sighed in relief as she watched him take his seat; at which point she resumed hers, before turning her attention back to the vanilla confectionary she was about to sample. She then decided to start taking notes of all the cakes that she’d tasted so far—this was what one would normally call “scouting the competition”, because Lavaridge’s infamous chocolate frosted “lava cake” was nothing to be scoffed at; but the Kalosian treats were something in a league of her own. She was debating on whether or not to speak up—but decided to keep quiet instead; because she knew that whenever her master was talking, he didn’t like being interrupted.
Post by Josh Dragomir on Nov 21, 2014 10:53:12 GMT -5
Josh couldn't even warn Zerne. But he probably should have warned Izumi about startling him and Lightning.
While Josh's eyes just widened from Zerne's words, Lightning's reaction would be the firecracker that would light this juicestand.
"Pika.... CHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"
Josh didn't even have a chance to react before the startled Pikachu would unleash a viciousThunderbolt on Zerne. Lightning hadn't even stopped to see who it was, or even warn his Trainer. Instinct had completely taken over, and the Pikachu had zapped Izumi's master without a second thought. For that moment, the Pikachu was back in Kohaku again, where sudden noises behind you only meant one thing...
Of course, the Pikachu hadn't meant to harm Zerne. But certain instincts still remained... He hadn't seen Zerne, he had only sensed the creatures that threatened himself and his Trainer, those that had murdered his own mother before Josh had found him. Josh gritted his teeth when he looked back to see the damage.
"God damnit, Lightning, I..." he trailed off before he saw the look on the Pikachu's face of pure, paranoid terror. His gaze softened and his face fell, patting the Pikachu's head before getting up and checking on Zerne.
"Sir, I apologize" He said, frowning. Well, that wasn't the best first impression. "Really, he didn't mean it. It's a long story, but instincts kicked in for him. He wouldn't harm a fly if he could help it" he promised. He didn't mention that his own instincts had been thrown up as well, and Josh had half a mind to turn and punch Zerne in the face, had he not comprehended his words quicker then Lightning had. Lightning, of course, had less understanding of English and it's meanings, and it was understandable to Josh, even if it might not be for Zerne.
Izumi meanwhile... Josh had a feeling she'd understand. He'd told her his story, and what he and Lightning had gone through. And she knew Lightning wouldn't harm a fly if he could help it.
Josh would carefully make sure Zerne was able to get to his seat properly before he would take his own seat, Lightning looking over at Zerne, realizing who he had zapped. "Pika...." Lightning whined in apology, his ears drooping down.
"Again, I apologize for that. Lightning was just acting on instinct and thought he was protecting us" he promised, bowing his head, before extending his hand if the prior post's offer was still there and shaking it, or extending his hand for the shake himself if not. "Yes, I'm Josh Dragomir. It's a pleasure to meet you, sir. Izumi has told me a lot about you as well" he responded respectfully. Gah, why did Lightning have to do that, he thought? Well, okay... He understood why he did it, but why did he have to do it now?
While he didn't want to admit it, all of Josh's senses were on full alert. Surprise noises behind you or a presence behind you usually meant something was about to deliver swift death, where he had come from... That experience had left mental scars and habits on him and Lightning both that he didn't know if they would ever heal.
Of all the things Zernebog was expecting when he surprised Izumi’s scruffy friend and extended a hand to greet him, being zapped by the Pikachu beside them was way down on the list. Way, waaaaaaay down.
Despite appearing in and out of civilized society rather sporadically for long periods of time recently, his instincts were still as sharp as they ever were. As soon as he had felt the searing and numbing spastic pain from the large bolt of electricity that had been attracted to the steel hidden by the leather, his other hand slammed into the metal leg of the chair he had been sitting on with a powerful thud, slipping a bit to open up enough of a gap in his leather bandages to allow steel-on-steel contact with the chair. This allowed him to ground himself by allowing the rest of the painful current to pass through his body harmlessly to the ground.
Still, there was still some of the electricity that had managed to burn him, though it wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been if he didn’t ground himself. As it was his leather bandages were smoking and smelling like burned beef jerky while he himself smelled lightly of charcoal. It was really a good thing that he’d started training and digging with Hera semi-regularly in the Badlands and that he’d learned to deal with her extremely painful electric punches and her horrific temper tantrums and mood swings during the visit of her monthly monster or else he would’ve also been worse off nonetheless. Right now it was slightly uncomfortable but he’d lived through and been forced to bear through much worse, especially back when he worked for Arcane.
That was the only reason why he hadn’t punched the punk and his Pikachu out for electrocuting him. That and he supposed that Izumi might make a fuss if he took out a pokemon and tried to turn these two into bloody smears like he would have three years ago for this offense. Besides, the two of them did look apologetic (because if they hadn’t then nothing would have stopped him, meager grasp of decorum or not) so he supposed he could let it slide… for now.
So he just stared at the both of them with an unamused expression until the scruffy blond finished talking. Then he stared at them for a few moments more extending his smoking hand again and taking the guy’s grip in a very firm handshake. If the bandages were uncomfortable and hot to the other guy’s hand, he didn’t care since he basically brought that upon himself.
”I would say it’s good to meet you, Dragomir, but since your Pikachu thinks that I’m not as important as a fly I won’t.” Zernebog deadpanned, a puff of smoke coming out from his mouth. ”You should try and fix that before he electrocutes someone he really shouldn’t, like say the mayor of this town or something. Not everyone is as durable as I am.”
He then glanced over at Izumi. ”So now that I’m here, why’d you want us to meet anyway?”
Post by Izumi Yamamura on Dec 28, 2014 5:49:08 GMT -5
She could only blink as Lightning went from normally docile to flat-out violent… or was he just really behaving like all Pikachu did? Normally, he’d have at least sized up her shisho, but definitely this was not the case this time around. She knew that his Pikachu was friendly with her, that much was certain, but for him to go off on a tangent and suddenly zap him up like that? Hoo boy. She then attempted to smooth things over quite hurriedly, before saying, “Shit, I’m sorry if his Pikachu did that,” before noticing that there was a puff of smoke that came out from his mouth as he began speaking. In the back of her mind, she tried her best and damned hardest not to burst out into laughter—because who knew if he could read minds (not Josh, but Zerne) but decided to keep things as even as possible.
She then called for another waiter, who brought over a fork, before she continued, “Here, have some of the cakes… we’re on a taste-testing run. Actually, my mother asked me to sample the competition’s cakes, see what I can bring back to Hoenn from out here,” she began, before realizing that a rather important question had been posed. She could only blink—normally, people who get shocked by an Electric-type should’ve been passed out on the floor, or looking like they’d been dumped in a dumpster full of soot—she gave points to him for being quite sturdy, in all cases. “Ah, as for that… I did tell you about him, right? He’s looking… for a teacher to supplement him in the ways of battling; because… why don’t you tell him the rest?” she said in her master’s direction, before offering the rest of the conversation to Josh and turning back her attention to the kiwi-decorated thing, which she began attacking with much gusto—yet her ears were sharp, and listening to whatever they’d end up talking about.
Post by Josh Dragomir on Jan 1, 2015 23:35:20 GMT -5
Josh scratched his head awkwardly. This hadn't gone according to plan at all. Through all the preparations he had taken to make a good first impression, the likelihood of Zerne trying to spook them hadn't come to mind at all. So unfortunately, this little incident had ruined all plans right then and there. Josh let out a sigh, but allowed himself to compose himself as he would hold his hand out to shake when Zerne offered. It was hot and uncomfortable, and Josh's hand hurt just touching it. But if he had to suffer the consequences, so be it. He didn't flinch, just shook his hand like it was no big deal. Once he retracted his hand, he clenched it into a fist, taking another breath to calm himself.
"Again, I apologize sir for his behavior. It's not that you're not as important as a fly to him, he's just having a... Hard time adjusting to civilization" He admitted, scratching his head again as he tried to explain the situation. He winced as a puff of smoke came from the guy's mouth. What the fuck?
He would nod to his words politely. "Yes, sir" He said, taking a breath. He would allow Izumi to speak to Zerne, as Josh had noticed Lightning's rather distant look, staring down at the ground, as if something were bothering it. Sure, he knew that shocking Zerne had upset him, but that didn't look like guilt now... That looked like pure terror, the poor thing was paranoid and scared. Josh's gaze softened, he sighed and gently pulled Lightning into his arms.
"Hey..." He said quietly to Lightning, who would perk up to stare up at him. "Listen... Look at me..." He said softly as he ran his fingers through the Pikachu's fur on his head. "It's over now, okay? Nobody's going to hurt you here. That life is behind us... I know it was rotten, and we both went through a lot... But we're safe now, okay? I can't promise that nothing's going to jump out at us again... That's the unpredictability of a journey like ours... But... In a place like this, nobody's going to try to jump out and try to hurt us, don't worry about it" He said, pulling the Pikachu into a gentle hug. "Just trust me... And please don't shock someone without thinking again. I know your intentions were good... But not everyone is going to greet us in the usual means. You just have to keep a cool head" He whispered. "Pika" Lightning would respond with a nod, and they would listen until Izumi turned the conversation to him. Having succeeded in calming Lightning down, Josh would nod to them.
"Well... You see..." He began, taking a breath. "I'm not really... Used to trainer battles, as much as I should be. My skills against wild Pokemon are alright, but when placed against another human trainer, my skills are mediocre in comparison. We've... Also been considering challenging the Tower in Kalos, Izumi and I. And we were hoping for a bit of help to train us in the art and prepare us for it" He explained politely. "Izumi recommended you highly, citing you as the best person for something like this, by far"
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