4.0 Dedicated to its Members and Fans of Pokemon A Pokemon Sandbox RP
Pokémon Dubstep (ft. Lindsey Stirling)
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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.
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 Izumi Yamamura on May 20, 2015 9:29:00 GMT -5
Now that Izumi had his attention, she then attempted to swivel around as best as she could manage—without tripping over herself and consequently falling face-first in the water. Either way, it was a rather difficult move, but somehow, she’d managed to execute it. she then looked up right at his face; and if he’d care to look, the blush was coming out in full force now, and she wasn’t doing a thing to hide it anymore. “Well, you see… it’s because…” she began to stammer, before taking a deep breath in order to be able to calm herself right then and there.
Calm down, girl! Calm the hell down! Don’t get your panties… well, your words all in a bunch! Slow and steady! You can get this out! Hell, would he even understand this? He’s been on the run all his life, so a ‘normal’ existence is still alien to him, but… but… would he get what I’m trying to say…? She chastised herself in the back of her mind before letting a few awkward moments of silence permeate the air. “Wh-what I’m trying t-to say is… uhhm,” she continued to stammer, this time looking downwards at the water’s reflection before feeling her ears turn red all the way into ‘dangerous’ territory.
Spit it out girl! Spit. It. Out! She continued in the back of her head, before she finally got the courage to look up right into his deep gaze. “I… you know what they say that whenever a girl gets raging jealous when they hear news that a boy they have their eye on is in a relationship…? Well, I, uhhm… urrr…” she faltered, feeling her throat running dry; hell she could hear her own blood hissing in her ears at this point. “Wh-what I’m trying t-to say is…” she continued to get out, before taking a deep breath and blurting it all out in a rush.
“Joshua Dragomir, I… I don’t know if you f-feel the same way as I d-do, but I… I l-l-l-l—I have more than just friendly feelings for you, and I’m not sure if you have the same thing… so… y-yeah.I’ve noticed that Serena tends to p-prefer Y-yumi, b-but…” she continued, faltering; her resolve was draining the longer she stood there, the later she dallied, and the more she’d freeze up. “Screw this fuckery. I told Kouji that I’ve been having problems hiding my f-feelings for y-you, and… ugh… oh, Arceus, why…” she trailed off, disengaging herself and running off through the Splash Zone, away from him—why couldn’t she just flat out say the three words she wanted to tell him all this time?!
Three. Fucking. Words. Three words! You could say it so easily to Bunji, but not him?! Are you insane?! She screamed in the back of her head, trying to put as much distance between herself and him, because she could now feel her eyes welling up with tears, splashing out of the ducts and just basically ruining her makeup at that point in time.
Post by Josh Dragomir on May 21, 2015 16:05:52 GMT -5
Josh simply looked into Izumi's eyes as she would turn to face her, curious about just what her intentions could possibly be. Yeah, she'd been acting... Strange, this whole time. "Because?" Josh would ask, tilting his head when she began stuttering along, saying it was because of... What? What could it possibly be? He relaxed himself. Despite his curiosity, he didn't really want Izumi to be uncomfortable. Thus, he tried to remain as relaxed as he could in hopes that Izumi would be the same. Despite all of this though, all of his attempts, all of his tried, Izumi would still continue to stutter along nervously. "What you're trying to say is.....?" He trailed off, mimicking her words, blinking. What in the seven hells was going on?
More then just friendly feelings for him, she said? What was... Ohhhhh. Right, this was what Kouji was talking about, right? He blushed crimson, scratching his head in embarrassment. Honestly, he wasn't sure about his own feelings for Izumi. Something had changed after Richissime, but because for some reason she had no memory of it, and Josh had no desire to make her relive it, he couldn't really talk to her about it. He didn't know if they were feelings of his own, or not... But he just wasn't sure for the moment. Though he couldn't help but laugh a bit when she mentioned Yumi. He was going to say something about that, but she kept going. "Yeah, he-" He was cut off before he could say anything in response to her mentioning Kouji when Izumi would suddenly run off. "Hey! Wait! Izumi, come back!" Josh called after her, but it was too late. He tilted his head and let out a sigh. Oh boy... He started to walk after her, hoping they could talk this out.
Post by Izumi Yamamura on May 22, 2015 23:20:55 GMT -5
Even if she could hear him calling out to her to stop right where she was—she didn’t pay attention to him and put some more distance between herself and the incoming human torpedo that was trying to call her back. Ugh. You are such a coward, Izumi! She began to chastise herself in the back of her mind as she literally sent water everywhere—the better to get out of the Splash Zone and back on the pier that led down to the wading area, the better. You already had the entire thing mapped out, you practiced in the shower, but now that you’re right here, right at the very moment, you can’t get the words out! What the hell, man? What’s wrong with me?! She continued to herself in the back of her head; never mind that she was full-out crying again.
It was like that one time in Tyntill all over again with the chocolates and the bouquet of flowers; only instead of before, she’d actually managed to get out part of what she wanted him to know about her feelings. Now, the question was—did he feel the same way, or had she just set herself up for another series of disappointments? The tears continued to splash down her face as she waded deeper into the Splash Zone, the water almost coming up to her waist by now. Why did you freeze up at the very last second?! It’s just three words. Three. Simple. Fucking. Words! Just say it! I love you, Josh! Well, maybe four, but arrrrrgh, why can’t I voice it out?! She continued to wail in the back of her head, actually clutching both her hands to her head, which was starting to pound due to all the over thinking that she was exerting on herself at that very moment.
She had no idea if he’d caught up to her, by now she was simply an emotional wreck! “Wh-what if you d-don’t feel the same way a-about me,” she began muttering to herself, not realizing that she was already voicing out her thoughts for him to hear (if he was nearby). “Wh-what if all those sweet nothings were just that… sweet nothings with no hidden meaning? G-g-girl, you sometimes get things over the top and… urrrgh, what if he’s just that dense blockhead who doesn’t understand the meaning of those words, that ‘I love you’ may very well be the hardest thing for any girl to say to a guy that has really caught her fancy?What if he just slaps it back in my face and puts me in the friend zone?!” she continued to mutter, not realizing that her voice was going higher and higher—up until such point she’d heard the last sentence ringing in her ears.
“Why did I even confess tonight, what if he doesn’t understand the fucking concept… ughhh, what the hell…” she continued to hiss, now pacing back and forth amidst the tears and the bubbling regret that was slowly filling up inside her.
WORDS 508 TAGSJosh Dragomir NOTESExplain yourself, bub!
Post by Josh Dragomir on May 23, 2015 0:22:26 GMT -5
Her revelation, her... Confession wasn't really that much of a shock to him. I mean, he already knew somewhat that she felt more then just friendship from Kouji. But he still didn't know what to make of the nervous wreck of a confession she had made. He had gone after her, likely having a little bit of a speed advantage to Izumi due to the fact he wasn't as submerged in water as she was with the height advantage. Another advantage to being taller, and for Izumi being as short as... Well, a shortstack. A dwarf. A midget. A munchkin. A gnome. A smurf. A smurfette. A papa smurf. A papa smurf. A baby smurf. A garden smurf. A garden gnome. A garden Gnomezumi. She was so short, she could probably... You know what, let's not go any further then this before we get into unneeded territory. Regardless, Josh would follow along with Izumi to the best of his ability as she continued to sink into the wading pool, deeper and deeper, rambling and raving louder and louder as she went.
He could hear her more and more the closer he got, and the louder she got. Did she even know she was saying these things out loud? She feared him not feeling the same way... Ah shit. He wouldn't say he didn't feel the same way. For him it was just... Complicated. His feelings were complicated. Uncertain. He didn't know. Not yet anyway. He just didn't know how to explain it to her without directly telling or no, or making her think he was telling her no. Eventually, he would catch up to her, wrapping his arms around her, turning her around and pulling her into a tight hug.
Post by Izumi Yamamura on May 24, 2015 1:32:46 GMT -5
Maybe Izumi shouldn’t have run off the way she did, after that rather…botched attempt at confessing her feelings to Josh’s face? But there was still the overwhelming feeling of potential embarrassment (and consequently, abject horror—albeit on a lesser scale) that had caused her to act the way she did; either way, she knew she’d blown her one big chance after she’d put some distance between him. While Izumi’s writer was trying her best not to roll her eyes at Josh’s writer’s second attempt at breaking the fourth wall yet again, the raven-haired Trainer didn’t know that he’d closed the distance and had followed her after that little unplanned, unexpected, and surprised outburst of hers.
Her rampaging train of thought was brought to a sudden halt as she felt her center of gravity shifting once again—before she was turned around and pulled into another one of his tight hugs. This the much-smaller girl tried to resist; because she was pretty certain that he’d heard her raving outbursts of the ‘what ifs’ and ‘what could have been’ that she had let slip. Ah, shit. Why do things have to be really complicated when I’m involved?! I know that Kouji’s crazy assistant isn’t exactly swinging towards the hetero side of the spectrum, so I’m kind of in the air as to where his own orientation stands. But… but what if… she mused to herself in the back of her mind, trying her best to untangle herself from his hold in order to bolt further away from him, …what if he swings the other way? Then I’m dead. Regally dead. What if… what if… what if…?! she continued to think in the back of her mind while she tried to prise herself away from him.
“M-m-maybe n-not telling you about h-how I felt would’ve b-been better… it’s t-taking you some time t-to figure out what you want t-to say,” she hiccupped from within his hug; even if he was hugging her tightly, her arms were rather loath to return the affection. What if he was just really sweet towards any female friends he had and had no feelings towards them at all? That would regally suck for her, at the very least.
WORDS 370 TAGSJosh Dragomir NOTESYou and your 4th wall tendencies.
Post by Josh Dragomir on May 25, 2015 0:36:10 GMT -5
Obviously she shouldn't have ran off. It only makes it even more awkward. Why would she even bloody do that anyway? I mean, she confessed her feelings... Sort of. Kind of. She could have left it at that and seen his reaction, since he wasn't that far from her anyway even when she tried to run. Where did she expect to go? And besides, they were going to be living together sooner or later, what was she running from exactly? Josh was confused when Izumi would at first try to resist when he pulled her into a tight hug, trying to comfort her best he possibly could. What in the world had gotten into her? Had he hurt her somehow? He had no idea what he could have done wrong, but she was still acting like this... Why?
Well, one thing was for sure, if she considered that many times he had flirted with her, and hadn't said "I don't swing that way" when Yumi had decided to deliver her big old smack of a kiss on the lips back on his birthday, then it was... Pretty obvious that he swung her way. He wasn't gay. Never was, never would be. She really had nothing to worry about. In this instance, she was just being as daft as she accused him of constantly being.
Josh tilted his head and blinked when she spoke. But he let out a sigh and just tightened his hug. "Zu..." He spoke quietly. "I understand..." He whispered in her ear, running a hand through her hair gently. "I... I'm going to be honest. You mean a lot to me. And... I understand your feelings. Kouji told me a little while ago" He admitted with a small chuckle. "But I waited until you were ready to talk about it before telling you that. Sorry" He added, scratching his head in embarrassment.
"As for us... Well... Honestly, I'm not sure. I'm not going to tell you no, because its not a no" He would remark nervously. "I'm... Going to ask you to give me some time to think all of this over and see how I really feel before I make any sort of decision. Can you allow that?" He would ask her carefully.
Post by Izumi Yamamura on May 27, 2015 8:53:48 GMT -5
The first words that had actually registered in her head were the fact that a certain ash-haired Breeder had let slip of their ‘private’ conversation… and she then felt one of her fists clenching without her realizing it. “What the hell… he… he actually told you about it?!” she began, her voice rising in a tone so incredulous she didn’t want to believe it—but from the ring of her companion’s words, they held true. I am so going to talk to him later about the confidentiality clause… good fuckin’ grief, man, that was supposed to be a bloody secret! Her thoughts were now shouting in an angry, unified tone.
Deciding that the other party involved was so going to get it the next time she saw him in person, she then sighed, letting the rest of the words pass over her until she caught wind of another bunch of words that made her stop cold. What… what does he mean by that, if the answer’s not ‘no’, then what is it supposed to be? She continued to ponder to herself in the back of her mind, unable to fully understand what he’d just told her. “W-w-well… if it’s n-not ‘no’, then what…” she trailed off, before remembering what he’d mentioned.
“If th-that’s what you n-need, then… alright, I-I can wait,” she muttered, although in the back of her mind she was already running headlong to the nearest wall and bashing her head into it over and over again.
WORDS 249 TAGSJosh Dragomir NOTESOh now you've done it
Post by Josh Dragomir on May 27, 2015 21:37:20 GMT -5
Oh, was he supposed to not tell Izumi that Kouji had told him? Well, honestly, it had kind of just... Slipped out. He couldn't recall if he was not allowed to tell Izumi about it, but if he had, then Kouji had likely told him to wait for when Izumi told him herself first. The blonde would shrug, and blink at her behavior. If she was freaking out this bad, what ELSE had she said to Kouji about all of this? He didn't expect her to go this nuts. All he'd done was show him a couple of text messages from Izumi, that's all. Once Izumi was finished throwing her little fit in her head, not that Josh would have known that Kouji was going to get it, but he could tell Izumi was upset about it judging by her surprise in his response, but with that out of the way, Josh would blink when Izumi asked what he meant.
"Well..." He began, scratching his head. "It's not a yes... But it's not a no either. I guess it's more of a... Wait and see. I don't want to make promises I can't keep, nor will I just tell you no when I might not mean it. You know the last thing I wanna do is lie to you, Zu" He spoke softly. "All I can ask for is time. Time to spend with you and really see if this is right for us" He spoke with a small smile, pulling her into a gentle hug.
Post by Izumi Yamamura on May 31, 2015 7:37:26 GMT -5
“G-geez,” she began after some silence had passed, before raising her hand in an attempt to conk him lightly on the head. She was about to pull herself for another retort when his last words had caught her attention, and she was about to formulate another retort when she felt herself being pulled into another hug. “Y-you idiot,” she muttered, albeit rather muffled as she hid her face in the folds of his formal shirt. “Hasn’t all the time we spent together meant anything to you?” she continued to hiss softly to herself from within his arms, hoping that he didn’t catch too much of what she was saying.
An idea then clicked in her mind, and she quickly reverted into her ‘second language’, all the more for him to not understand what she was saying. If he’d listen, all he’d catch coming from her were snatches of the language of Shui, but in reality she was muttering to herself, secretly content that he couldn’t make heads nor tails of just what the hell she was saying. “You idiot. Cow. Fool,” she continued, before eventually lapsing into silence and returning the embrace.
Sometimes I don’t understand guys either. I know that he wasn’t like this. He was forward, too forward to the point that he was like an unsheathed sword; all sharp-tongued and easily swayed by his own emotions without realizing it. You’re not like him, you know? You have this intensity that… that’s much different from his. He was like a hurricane, always running from one point to another. You’re… you’re like a volcano. I just can’t describe it, she thought in the back of her mind, before smirking into his shirt and then suddenly giving him an unexpected sucker punch right in the stomach!
“Idiot,” she muttered once more, hoping that he’d heard that. “Sometimes I don’t know how you, a psychologist, can be so dense out of all things,” she added with a retort, before giving him a second sucker punch and then untangling herself from his arms. “Come on, we still have the rest of the Dome to tour!” she shouted as she broke into a sprint in the water, never mind that they were still in the deeper part of the Splash Zone.
“We still have to check out the Open Sea and get our dinner!” she called out as she made a mad scramble towards the dock, at the point where they’d left their shoes before entering the first of the two wading areas.
Post by Josh Dragomir on Jun 1, 2015 14:43:14 GMT -5
Josh couldn't help but simply chuckle when she referred to him as an idiot after he had hugged her again. He found it adorable, even if he did find it admirable that she was able to find the courage to tell him her feelings like that, even if he was a little rough around the edges in terms of fully understanding it. On that note...
Oh Izumi, he had heard that second bit. He chuckled. Oh, Izumi. If only you knew. The time they had spent together meant the world to him. "And what's wrong with spending a little more time together? Maybe I just enjoy it?" He would tease, giving her a small, yet playful noogie. The sucker punches, and the remark about him being a psychologist yet didn't know crap about all this though... He figured he'd address that.
"You know, Izumi... I'm proud of you" He would admit, smirking a bit. "Sure, I'm not all that knowledgeable about relationships. You keep forgetting, over and over... I've never been in a relationship. I've never really had that time where I could call someone more then special. I told you before, back at the ranch, that for the most part I lived isolated from other people. I spent my days as a child working at the ranch, and I had a hard time developing friendships in school because people considered me too... Different. So I mainly stayed by myself, and looked forward to the time spent at the ranch to spend time with Pokemon. University, I had no dormie, so I was by myself there too, and just didn't really have the social skills to try and get over my shyness and interact with people. Not that they wanted to anyway" He added, smirking a bit. Man, no wonder he was so muscular. "But still, it was brave of you to say what you did, even if I'm not as knowledgeable about this sort of thing as you would like" He would admit.
Josh let out a sigh. "All I can do is hope you'll be able to forgive me for that. The point still stands, I... Just don't know what to do in this situation. There has never been a time I have been in this sort of situation in my life. So I... Yeah. I need to do some thinking, now that it's out in the open" He would add. "It's not like its your fault or anything. Its mine. This... Is just how I was brought up. I need to figure all of this out for myself before I rush into something headlong, you know?" He would add, tilting his head.
He would chuckle when she went to go grab her shoes and head out to eat. He'd nod and follow, drying himself off and slipping back into his boots. Man, now that he thought about it? He was starving.
Post by Izumi Yamamura on Jun 5, 2015 21:24:40 GMT -5
“Oh, right… I keep forgetting. Sorry if I keep overlooking that little fact,” she retorted his way, poking him in the chest once he’d caught up to her. Sure, even if she’d been reminded of his rather…unusual lifestyle before finally settling down into the current routine that he was still trying to adapt to, she then snickered once he was within hearing distance. “You’re so dense at times, all I can do is just shake my head in wonder as to how oblivious you can be,” she continued with another pointed look once he’d laced up his boots and was now following her again through the rest of the ‘dry land’ portion of the Splash Zone.
“You really should’ve tried to polish your people skills while you were out in that thing you call ‘college’, but hey, at least you know how to battle using Pokémon; I can give you credit for that,” she spoke up sometime later, aiming a general elbowing in his direction once he was close enough within striking distance. After they’d left the Splash Zone, they were back within the Dome’s viewing tunnels once more—only instead of seeing the normal fish swimming by, they could now definitely see Pokémon lounging around in the water.
“Ooh, I think we’re getting close to the Open Sea area, look,” she marveled, pointing at the various Water-types she could see lingering and just doing their thing in their ‘natural’ habitat. “I didn’t know that the latter half of the Dome led to the Pokémon reserves; that sneaky Kouji,” she remarked a few seconds later, recognizing a few of the Water-types as they walked by the tunnel.
“Now, where the hell was that restaurant again…” she muttered, mostly to herself while scouring her memories; the better to remember what her Breeder friend had told her about the place—where the rest of the so-called ‘tourist trap’ shops were located.
Post by Josh Dragomir on Jun 5, 2015 23:02:41 GMT -5
The blonde would shoot Izumi a glare. "You're not sorry" He remarked with a roll of his eyes. "You've been jabbing at me for that for months, you're not stopping now, Zu. I know you by now" He jabbed, elbowing her side. "You know full well that I'm not as educated in the ways of... People.... As you are. I didn't have the same experiences. I lived sheltered, for the most part. I was bullied as a kid too, so my social interaction was... Limited. Why do you think I looked forward to going home to the Pokemon so much?" He would ask. "I mean, I attended Elementary school, middle school, high school, but I was outcasted in the first three, didn't have any friends, so I just had Pokemon. Being sheltered was my choice, I was treated horribly at school then I'd go home and be alone with the Pokemon since my parents were too busy to spend any time with me. By university, I had a little more social interaction, but that was just from being forced to do group projects. None of those students really liked me. I was quiet, I didn't know how to understand them. I had to learn from scratch, and even then they were too snooty and obsessed with their own endeavors to even spare me a second glance. I had no friends, Izumi. I had no girlfriends. I had no relationships. YOU had your Bunji, your little sweetheart who you obsess over even long after he's gone, and are probably thinking of him now even as you're talking to me with all of this. I didn't have someone special to me. I never have. So yeah, if that makes me dense, then fuck you" He remarked, that last bit sounding... Rather cold. He tried to sound lighthearted about it, but it was obvious that Izumi had hit a serious sore spot. "YOU were the first friend I had, after Maxine, and I thought Maxine was fucking dead" He remarked.
The lack of social skills, girlfriends, or any real communication over the years, everything from the bullying to going out on his own that caused it, was something that really upset him, even now, even after he'd tried to fix it. Izumi calling him dense because of it hurt him, really truly hurt him. And her attempt at a bright side didn't help. He was as good with Pokemon as he was because he'd worked his ass off in order to be. Not because of his upbringing or his misfortunes.
".... Sorry. That's a sore spot" Josh admitted, with a sigh. "Let's.. Just go find the restaurant"