I did this drawing like four days ago and I still love them, I drew a sky for the first time properly! :0 I am so happy with this drawing set and it sparked me to be obsessed with them again-
HERE I will continue and yap about these two because I have too much to say, feel free to comment or send asks if you have any questions about them!
They grew up together as neighbours, obviously. (Girliepop would take the place of the Pokemon Shield MC)
Not just Hop, but Girliepop has a Wooloo! They caught them together when they were kids!
While Hop has always been a Pokemon battler fanatic, Girliepop isn't really interested in it, despite being insanely talented at it.
Girliepop is a giant Pikachu fanboy
He picks Sobble from Leon
Girliepop mainly goes on the Gym Circuit because Hop is and Hop really wants them to do it together, however towards the end they have some issues since Hop is trying so hard and keeps losing while Girliepop isn't trying at all and looks so unbothered but keeps winning. Girliepop's arc here would be him learning to be more caring towards others in this aspect of not brushing them off when they lose and to actually work for what he wants if that makes sense lol
I feel like in the final battle between Hop and Girliepop before Girliepop would battle Leon, Hop yells at him to actually try and tell him he wants to win because Hop won't accept losing to Girliepop if he doesn't try.
Yes this is Childhood Friends-to-angsty kinda enemies/friends-to- lovers <33
I made a little animation featuring Kobii and some PLA characters but here are some frames I really liked from that animation while I figure out if I can post the animation here ^^
‘A rift in the sky… people falling from it.. the world is full of mysteries.’
The last words Akari had said before bidding him a good night had never quite left his mind as he laid awake on the futon in the surprisingly nearly fully furnished room he had been provided. Laying alone in the silence had calmed his headache quite a lot, a dull throbbing in the back of his head was all that was left, a far cry from what it had been for most of the day.
Still, he found that his mind wouldn’t allow him to rest quite yet. He supposed it could be from nerves, he might fail tomorrow and be left to fend for himself and die.
‘Surely there’d be someone else though, someone else in.. wherever we are that would help if it were to come to that. Right?’
Before Kobii’s mind could continue to spiral down that train of thought, That phrase again, where exactly had he heard of that? , A crack of what sounded to be lightning boomed across the sky and he sat up in surprise. Sitting alone in the dark he took a breath and pressed his hand against his chest.
‘It was just lightning.. Nothing out of the ordinary..’
As he laid back down, letting his head rest against the pillow and pull the white blanket back over himself he thought to himself that it was a bit strange to have one flash of lightning without thunder beforehand, not that he knew why he knew that. Eventually time ticked by and he managed to fall asleep, not hearing any other lightning for the rest of the night…
In what felt like too little time, Kobii was blinking awake to a sunlit room and a soft yet confident knocking at the door to the room,
“Good Morning Kobii. Are you up? Quite some lightning last night, wasn’t it?”
Listening to what sounded like Professor Laventon, He sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and stretched his arms out. For whatever reason, sleeping on a futon was not the most pleasant experience for him, either that or he simply wasn’t used to it. Which could very well be the reason why as well.
“Today’s the day of your trial! So, er… Let’s give it our all!”
For it being what he assumed pretty early in the morning, The Professor sounded quite jolly.
“I’m up Professor, I’ll be out in a moment!”
He replied, standing up and hearing his joints pop. Laventon spoke back saying he’d be off to get set up for the expedition and he’d send Akari to get him before Kobii assumed he heard him walk off.
Not having a change of clothes to wear, Kobii tried his best to pat down the clothes he was wearing, smoothing out the wrinkles on his t-shirt and making sure his shorts were sitting properly and comfortably. He checked the mirror afterwards making sure he looked as presentable as he could, brushing his hair with his fingers, deciding to pull the brown locks behind his ears so it didn’t keep getting in his face like it so desperately wanted too and double checked that he got all the sleep out of his eyes.
Seeing himself in the mirror was an odd experience he decided, not that he was surprised with what he saw. It was exactly what he had expected he would look like; It would be even stranger if he had looked in the mirror and not recognised who he saw. No, what he looked like wasn’t the issue, the issue had been that he couldn’t remember what he did look like before he checked the mirror in that moment. Kobii gave his cheeks a pat with his hands and stood up tall, it was probably just some side effect of apparently having pretty serious memory problems, if how the Professor reacted was anything to go by.
He stepped away from the mirror and went to leave only when he looked back and saw the futon. Kobii took a few extra minutes trying to roll up the blanket and present it the same way it had been last night but he found he wasn’t doing a very good job at it. It was something at least he lamented and left it as best he could; if he did fail and get sent out into the wild, he didn’t want them to think he took their hospitality for granted.
“What lovely weather we’ve got!” Akari greeted him with a smile and a hand on her hip, wearing the same uniform she had the day before.
“I hope you got a good sleep, even if this land is strange and new to you.”
Kobii nervously smiled and nodded,
“I tried my best, I got some I think.”
Akari nodded along,
“Well, you’re going to need it for today. Let’s get to headquarters. Captain Cyllene is waiting.”
With that, Akari began to walk off down the street leaving Kobii to walk a pace or two behind her. As they walked towards the large building he had seen the other day, he noticed that there were what looks like scaffolding around the sides of the building, as if it was still in the process of being built. Kobii guess that the township itself was a pretty recent development then.
“Come on slowpoke, don’t tell me you forgot to walk as well!”
Akari chuckled in front of him, causing him to catch up to her at the stairs to the headquarters. Kobii watched as she nodded towards a man who was standing by the stairs, he was dressed in the same uniform as the guards from the gate the day before, and followed her into a large and hall behind the wooden double doors.
Akari stopped in the middle of a symbol that was on the red carpet below them, Kobii idly noted that it was the same as the symbol on her uniform.
“The Survey Corps’ offices are here on the first fl-“
Akari began before both of their attention was drawn to yelling coming from a room off one of the side corridors,
“Don’t give up! Keep those eyes open!”
Another voice followed afterwards, although this one was a lot weaker;
“The wild pokemon, they… they were everywhere. Attacking from all sides… I sent out my partner pokemon but… against a whole pack… outnumbered…”
The implications of pokemon so severely injuring someone that they were being urged to not shut there eyes didn’t sit well with Kobii for reasons he couldn’t explain.
“This is what happens when you go so far afield! But the Medical Corps will put you to rights.”
The first voice responded. Both teens gazed towards the open door before Akari shook her head, turning back to Kobii,
“That man’s with the Security Corps… and even with his own partner, he took a beating from wild pokemon.”
She took a moment to think, a look of what seemed to be worry slowly growing on her face.
“Without a partner pokemon of your own, you might find this trial…”
She pondered on what phrasing to use,
“Particularly trying...”
She settled on. Kobii found himself agreeing with her and nodded,
“I can understand why..”
They both stood in the now quiet entry hall for a few moments thinking about the slight obstacle ahead until Akari shook her head again, something Kobii had noted the Professor does as well. He thought that they must spend a lot of time together if they’re copying each other’s movements. It made him smile slightly.
“Well, we’ll deal with that issue after we speak to the Captain, she’s expecting us.”
Akari lead him towards the open room right ahead of them and stood right before the change of the carpet colours changed from a vibrant red to a metallic blue colour.
“Captain Cyllene? Kobii is here.”
Looking past Akari, he could see the Captain sitting at her desk with mountains of papers stacked all over, seeing that amount of work almost bringing back the hideous headache he had suffered with all of yesterday. Cyllene didn’t seem bothered in the least however and merely looked up from the paper she was reading,
“You may enter.”
With that, Kobii followed Akari’s lead and walked into the spacious office alongside her, stopping a few strides from her desk as Cyllene stood up and walked to stand in front of them. He really tried to not let his eyes wonder, but he couldn’t help but notice a pokemon floating off to the side.
‘Abra, a psychic pokemon.’
Again, he had no idea how he knew that but it just seemed right. To his surprise, the pokemon looked up and tilted it’s head at him almost as if it was questioning something about him. Kobii guessed it was just because of how he was dressed, he hadn’t seen a single person wearing anything like he did so far after all. At the sound of Cyllene beginning to speak, he tore his eyes away from the pokemon and focused on the Captain;
“Let us get straight into it. If you want to join the Galaxy Expedition Team, prove yourself capable by going out into the Obsidian Fieldlands and catching three different species of pokemon; Bidoof, Starly and Shinx.”
‘Normal type, normal and flying type and an electric type.’
Kobii’s mind helpfully supplied. For one reason or another, hearing those names of pokemon didn’t seem to make any particular thought jump out at him, neither did the goal of catching all three of them instil any of the stress he thought it would. If he was to trust what pieces of his mind and memories he had left, this trial wasn’t going to be too difficult. Hopefully.
“Catching three pokemon from the start? No one in the Galaxy Team has ever managed that…”
Akari chimed in and although she was probably trying to hide it, a sliver of worry could be heard in her voice. If the Captain noticed it, she didn’t comment on it.
“Did this stranger not catch three different pokemon only yesterday? My trial should be simple enough for him – if the professor wasn’t exaggerating things, that is.”
‘Ah, so there’s another reason for the trial.’
Kobii realised.
‘Apparently catching one pokemon seems to be impressive enough here, catching three in a row seems to be unheard of. Its not just that they want to make sure only capable people join the Galaxy Team, they want to see if Laventon is trustworthy and telling the truth.’
Kobii’s survival and access to the village wasn’t the only thing at stake here, but also the Professor’s word, trust, reputation and possibly his job. Cyllene turned her head to address Kobii himself,
“The Galaxy Team does not have the means to provide for those who only take without giving. If you wish to stay you must prove beyond any doubt that you’ll be an asset to our cause.”
Kobii nodded, he supposed that made sense. If the village had only settled as recently as he thought, resources wouldn’t be the most abundant. If they wanted to continue, they would have to be wise about how they would use the resources they do have.
The Captain then picked something up from her desk and took a few steps towards him,
“I will lend you one of our Survey Corps satchels to carry whatever you may need in the field.”
She held out a yellow pouch which had a long band connected to either side, to which Kobii took if not a little nervously.
“Oh- Thankyou.”
He nodded, turning if over in his hands to familiarise himself with it. When he looked up, both Akari and Captain Cyllene were looking at him expectantly and it clicked for him that they were probably waiting for him to put it on. Thing was, he had no idea how he was supposed to do it and how it was properly meant to be done. He glanced over at Akari, noticing now that the yellow cloth around her waist wasn’t just for decoration but it was the very same satchel that he now held in his hands.
Akari must have interpreted his observational glances as a plea for help as she stepped over to him and took the satchel out of his hands,
“Let me help you for your first time. Next time you’ll have to do it by yourself.” She stated as she reached around to get the satchel in the right spot on his back before wrapping it around with expert precision.
“Thankyou Akari, I’ll make sure to learn how to myself.”
She merely nodded and after only a few seconds she stood back, the satchel securely in place around his waist.
“Hmm.. the satchel doesn’t exactly match your, er, mode of dress…” She sighed.
Before Kobii could reply in some form, Captain Cyllene interrupted,
“Akari. I’ll expect you to step in if anything goes awry.”
“Yes, Captain!”
Cyllene nodded at that, having said all she needed to say, dismissing them.
“Pardon all, Kobii and Akari, come with me a moment!” The Professor waltzed in from a door on the left of the room.
Kobii noted that this probably wasn’t unusual as neither Akari or Captain Cyllene seemed phased about his appearance; Whatever it was, Kobii copied as Akari nodded towards Cyllene and walked over with the professor into the room on the left.
“Professor Laventon has told me how you helped secure his pokemon when they slipped his control.”
Captain Cyllene started, giving the Professor a brief glance before focusing onto Kobii. He just nodded mutely, her stern face demanding respect. It made him feel a bit scared, but he couldn’t help but think that he had seen an expression like that before… And at that time, more than people’s first thoughts of him were at risk…
“And now it seems he would like us to feed and house you in exchange for ongoing labour.”
She gave him a look up and down, much like how the canteen owner did only a few minutes ago, her face however hid her opinions on his looks much better than his had. Or she simply did not care.
“Hmm.. You look to be fifteen or so,”
She mused. Kobii at this couldn’t quite decide if she was right or not. While the age didn’t sound far off he didn’t feel as if it was correct. He nodded anyways, not wanting to think more about that train of thought and what worry it could bring.
‘Train of thought..’ Before he could dwell more on the familiar yet somewhat confusing phrase, Cyllene continued to speak with a nod of her head,
“Quite old enough to earn your keep.”
The professor grinned and placed a hand on Kobii’s shoulder, giving him a congratulatory pat before the Captain continued.
“But we can’t simply take on a stranger who wanders in among us, without any idea of their skills or origins.”
‘Oh. That might be a bit of a problem.’
“Tomorrow we will see if you can prove yourself worthy.”
She finished. Laventon, seemingly unfazed by this just patted Kobii’s shoulder before he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his lap coat,
“Oho! A most reasonable decision, Captain. Now, would you care to join us for a meal? I’m sure you’ve got plenty of questions for our visitor!”
He exclaimed, much to Kobii’s own reluctance. He really just wanted at this point to know if he’d at least get somewhere to sleep for tonight, some time to himself to sort out his mind and for this dammed headache to go away. Talking with Captain Cyllene would only make two of those wants harder to achieve. To his delight, the Captain shook her head,
“That’s quite alright. I prefer to eat alone so that I might enjoy my meals without disruption.”
With that, she considered the conversation over and walked between the small group they had formed and disappeared into the rattan building, the door gently closing shut behind her, leaving the Professor, Kobii and Akari, and perhaps the guard standing outside the Headquarters building behind them listening in, alone.
“Aloof as always I see.”
Laventon muttered while shaking his head before turning his attention to Kobii,
“Well, No matter! The rest of us can share a meal and some pleasant conversation, then, eh?”
He grinned at both Kobii and Akari who shook her head slightly at his actions.
“Beni, old chum!”
Laventon suddenly yelled at the building, making Kobii jump and cover his ears with his hands. He did not miss the slight chuckle from Akari across from him as she covered her ears too.
“The usual potato mochi, if you please – but make it three for today!”
He finished yelling his order, no doubt disrupting the locals. However, as Kobii got a sneaky glimpse around, it seemed no one was bothered, or perhaps they had simply just gotten used to him ordering in such a way. The sentiment felt familiar, but Kobii brushed it off for now.
“Come now you two, let’s take a seat.”
Laventon smiled before sitting himself down on the bench outside the canteen, Akari taking the spot next to him leaving Kobii to take the seat across from them both. Although he felt a bit awkward sitting right across from them where they could stare at him all they wanted, he did appreciate not having to look out into the street behind him where the locals were still going about their normal afternoons.
Professor Laventon seemed to jump straight into conversation with Akari, asking her about her day. Kobii kept his gaze on the table in front of him, not knowing if it was alright if he heard what they were talking about. In the end, he settled on it was fine and they wouldn’t talk about things we shouldn’t know right in front of him. Well, from what Kobii had witnessed, maybe Professor Laventon would. Akari seems like the more responsible one of the unlikely duo.
“You focused on the land around Aspiration hill today like I suggested, didn’t you?”
The Professor asked to which Akari shrugged,
“More or less. I chased around a starly that headed towards Floaro Gardens so I did some observations there before I headed back to camp.”
“Akari, what did I say about going into areas with more dangerous pokemon while you’re still recovering.”
The Professor huffed with a displeased frown, to which Akari just shook off his concern with her hand,
“I’ll be fine Professor, I’ve been stuck inside the village for a week now, I’ve got to try and catch up on all the data collection time I’ve lost.”
It looked like Laventon was going to respond but was interrupted when the door to the canteen opened and the cranky old man that had yelled at Kobii earlier came out with a few plates of potato mochi balanced in his arms. Kobii thought he looked pretty mellow and approachable until the man noticed him and the sour frown from earlier returned as he placed the plates onto the table, pointedly placing them all right in front of Akari and the Professor.
“Wonderful stuff, Beni! Much obliged. Your potato mochi never fail to please!”
Laventon complimented as Kobii spied Akari taking a sneaky mochi from the Professor’s plate who either didn’t notice or didn’t mind. Beni nodded with a smile at Laventon before shooting a snide glare at Kobii and went back inside the canteen.
They all stayed silent at the table until Beni had shut the door behind him when Akari turned to Laventon,
“Professor Laventon, Where exactly did you meet our…”
She paused, glancing at Kobii,
“… Visitor here?” She finished.
“Ah, well, you know of that great hole in the sky? The one people call the space-time rift?” Laventon asked to which Akari just gave him an unimpressed look.
“Oh, that hole in the sky, I thought you meant the other one – of course I know what hole in the sky you mean Professor.” She grumbled before a look of surprise washed over her.
“Wait, you don’t mean…”
Laventon nodded and grinned with a clap,
“Yes, our new friend fell right out of it!”
He finished as if it made logical sense and reached for a potato mochi from the plate in front of him as Akari looked between him and Kobii.
“You can’t be serious.”
She settled on, giving him a deadpanned look. All Kobii could do in that situation was give a slight smile, still not quite believing it himself.
Laventon nodded before shaking his head and frowning,
“Come now – I am a scientist!” He took a bite of mochi before continuing, looking up to the evening sky, a magnificent orange colour.
“My job is to observe and explain any and all phenomena. I only concern myself with facts!”
Akari didn’t seem convinced but didn’t continue to voice her thoughts on the matter, taking another mochi for herself before pushing the third plate towards Kobii, gesturing that he could eat some if he wanted. As the Professor began to speak again, seemingly about a slightly unrelated topic, Kobii hesitantly tried one of the mochi, taking a small bite.
“Now, you already know there are many pokemon here in the Hisui region…” Akari nodded, swallowing her food before she spoke,
“That there are—in the grass, in forests, by water, wherever they like.” She shrugged,
“Our job as the Survey Corps is to research them and find out what type of creatures they are!”
Laventon nodded as she spoke before sighing and facing the sky again, letting his arms cross across his chest.
“Well, we know this much… pokemon are terrifying creatures!”
That sentence, for a reason he couldn’t pinpoint, made Kobii feel uncomfortable. It was wrong, pokemon weren’t terrifying, maybe some of them were a little scary but most of them would never attack a person without a reason, well that’s what he thought.
But as Kobii continued to think he realised he didn’t really have any basis to back that up, he had only met three pokemon; Cyndaquil, Rowlet and Oshawott. While they were quite small and harmless enough, dare he even think cute, that was three out of… who knows how many. Because of all of this, and that he couldn’t even really say what a pokemon was right now, Kobii kept his thoughts to himself, opting to focus on the potato mochi in his hands.
“It’s all but impossible to know what kinds of powers they might posses or what sorts of wonderous things they could do!”
The Professor continued, sighing, and shaking his head before smiling and turning to Akari again,
“But that’s where Kobii will come in!” He announced, much to both Akari and Kobii’s confusion,
“He successfully caught three pokemon! Three of them in quick order, you understand! Nobody in the Galaxy Team is capable of a feat such as that. This means we can finally begin our Pokemon research in earnest!” He continued, unaware or ignoring Akari’s obvious doubtful look.
“Three!? We have a hard enough time catching even one when wild pokemon come after us…” Akari said to which the Professor put a hand to his chin,
“Ah, well, to be fair, the pokemon that fled to the beach weren’t on the attack.” He admitted.
“But the key to catching pokemon is getting close enough to aim your pokeball. And well it seems our new friend is fearless enough to do just that!” He smiled.
“Oh, um, I don’t think I’m necessary fearless…” Kobii added, not wanting them to get the wrong idea about him. While he didn’t consider himself a scaredy cat, he still got scared sometimes, not that he could currently remember what he was scared of or why. If only his headache would just go away already.
“Nonsense! After all-“ Laventon started before the door to the canteen was slammed open and the older man from before came stomping back out,
“Does the Survey Corps really have the leeway to be enjoying a meal with this outsider?” He demanded, standing behind Kobii who didn’t turn around, not wanting to anger or annoy the man he presumably annoyed already by just existing.
“Your captain just ordered ten whole portions of potato mochi, you know. The slow progress on that Pokedex of yours clearly has her on edge.” He jabbed, to which Akari just sighed and looked back down and continued eating the mochi on her plate. Kobii noticed Laventon trying to keep his face in a polite expression. At least that’s what he assumed that look the Professor had was supposed to be.
“I’m sure we’ll start to reign in the good captain’s stress eating soon enough. Now have your fill Kobii!” He grinned at him. Kobii had a slight smile and nodded, picking up the food from his plate once again. It was pretty good food, if you could ignore the glare that he was sure was coming from Beni.
“And think! If you make it into the Galaxy Team, you’ll never have to worry about a meal again! The team provides for all it’s members’ needs – even if those members fell from the sky!” The Professor chuckled, making Kobii’s smile a bit bigger and Akari smirk as she tried to focus on her own meal. Kobii was sure that if the Professor didn’t finish his own plate soon, Akari would start to sneak mochi from his plate.
The sound of footsteps and the canteen’s door sliding shut let Kobii know that Beni had left them be, his shoulders relaxing.
“Don’t worry about Beni. He’s a good man, if not a little paranoid at times.” Laventon said, trying to make him feel better. Kobii just nodded. Akari looked up from her plate,
“So, you really fell from the sky like the Professor said?”
“W-well, I don’t really remember, but he said that’s what he saw.” Kobii explained, Laventon nodding along.
“I just woke up on the beach and then the Professor and his pokemon found me.” Kobii shrugged, biting into another piece of mochi.
“And you’re sure that’s what you saw? You didn’t just see a bird or something did you?” Akari turned to face Laventon, suspicious.
“Of course it was him, his silhouette was much too unique to be a bird.” He insisted.
“That said, are you sure you’re alright, my boy? No major injuries or the such?” Kobii shook his head, finishing his last piece of mochi.
“No, at least I don’t think so. I just have a headache really..” Akari looked like she still didn’t believe them but she didn’t voice any objections she had.
“My, I suppose that’s good then. I will admit, I was surprised to find you in such a good condition as I did.” Laventon added.
“Oh! How is your head? Is your memory still quite as addled as it was on the beach?”
“Memory?” Akari asked, glancing at the Professor before looking at Kobii.
“At Prelude Beach Kobii didn’t seem to recognise the name or where we were..” Laventon further explained before allowing Kobii to say more himself.
How was his memory? When he tried to think about anything before the beach, his headache just seemed to spike.
“Um, I… I can’t really remember much of anything, at least I don’t think so..” He shook his head,
“Whenever I try and think about before the beach, my head hurts.” The Professor gave him a slight worried frown meanwhile Akari looked up from her attempt at stealing a mochi from Lavender’s plate.
“Like, nothing?” Kobii shook his head.
“Sorry, nothing really apart from my name.” He decided to keep the part about knowing what types of pokemon the pokemon from earlier were to himself, considering the opinions he had observed so far.
“Hmm.. Well, We’ll have to go visit the Medical Corps when you join the Galaxy Team. I’m sure that even if they can’t help us with your memory, a quick check up would do good for you.” Laventon smiled, Akari and Kobii nodding.
“But for now, we should get going! It’s quite late already and what you need my boy is some sleep to set you right for tomorrow.” He announced, standing up now that his plate had been cleared. Kobii was sure that most of it had been eaten by Akari.
Now that Kobii focused around him, the sun had set and the stars were starting to appear in the sky. He looked up in awe as he stood. For some reason, seeing so many stars felt novel to him.
“That was quite delicious! Quite delicious indeed!” Laventon exclaimed as he stretched.
“Yes, the food was lovely. But more importantly… you do remember Kobii has a trial to pass to join the Survey Corps, don’t you?” Akari added, a hand on her hip and giving a small, worried look towards Kobii. He appreciated the concern, but all this talk of a mysterious trial was starting to make him feel more nervous than he already was. Kobii was sure this much stress as his age wasn’t good nor normal.
The Professor didn’t seem nearly as worried as Akari was,
“No way! I have complete confidence Kobii’s skills!” He grinned, doing an excited motion with his hands.
The door to the canteen slid open and the Captain walked out, looking as serious as ever,
“Let’s hope it isn’t misplaced.” She came to stand in between Akari and Kobii, hands behind her back as she stood rigidly.
“’Kobii,’ was it?” He nodded.
“For tonight, at least, we will provide you with a place to sleep. You may use our quarters there.” She nodded towards a row of buildings down the street.
“But if you fail to pass the trial we put to you tomorrow, you must move on. You will be expelled from the village to meet your fate – and perhaps your death – in the wilds.” She said as she walked off back towards the large building.
That alone made Kobii’s blood turn cold. Death? They would just.. send him off to what they assumed could very well be his death if he didn’t prove he was useful?
The thought shook him to his core in a way he didn’t understand. The threat of dying wasn’t new, he couldn’t remember why it wasn’t new but in his bones he knew it was something he had faced before. No, that wasn’t what disturbed him. It was that an adult was so ready to lead him to such a fate, at his age no less!?
‘Was it weird for people to have this mentality to him because of his age?’
He couldn’t remember why it was strange, people should work hard and help their community in hard times, but exile and death seemed… a bit harsh for some reason he couldn’t articulate.
“Captain Cyllene’s somewhat like Hisui, in that they’re both quite harsh.” Akari commented, pulling Kobii out of the downward spiral of worry he had begun to descend as he turned back to face her and the Professor.
“Now now, she simply puts on a stern front to help keep us all safe.” Laventon said, giving Akari a pat on the head which she seemed not too fond of but also used to.
“At any rate, I think it’s time we turned in for the night, eh?”
I haven't drawn Ingo and Emmet in so long and I was having a rough week so I decided to draw something a bit more self indulgent :3
Also it's been a quick minute since I've drawn Kobii! This is in his first arc where he's doing the gym challenge in Unova and does all the stuff in PKM-BW :3 I don't usually draw this era of him but it was nice :D
“Right, First things first – let’s get these Pokemon back to the village! Then we’ll sort out your lodgings and find you some proper clothes and a meal and all that.”
Kobii didn’t quite see what the problem was with that he was already wearing, but if the Professor said it wasn’t proper, he didn’t see why he had the right to argue against that, so he simply nodded along.
“Follow me, then! Onward to Jubilife Village!” He grinned as he began to walk at a brisk pace further away from the beach, Kobii following diligently behind him.
As they walked, he had some time to look around his surroundings, the most prominent thing he spotted was a tall mountain in the distance, snow covering it’s top.
He shivered, a dark ring of clouds floated above the mountain with what he thought was lightning in its centre, although the back of his mind seemed to think it looked like a crack in the sky itself… It gave him a bad feeling and he tared his eyes away from the sight, opting to look elsewhere instead.
Kobii could see what he assumed to be a part of the village Professor Laventon had mentioned, the tip of what he guessed to be a chimney in the distant with a steady stream of smoke floating out and into the sky.
As they rounded a corner, they reached a large entrance in a wooden wall that seemed to only be a bit taller than Kobii himself, two men in a matching uniform were guarding the entrance. Kobii moved slightly to walk behind the Professor who either didn’t mind or didn’t notice as he walked towards one of the guards with a large grin.
“Thankyou for your tireless work keeping us safe, my good guardsmen!” He announced.
Kobii thought it sounded like he was buttering them up so he could ask a favour of them, but he kept quiet, noticing the guard’s eyes locking onto him as they stood more alert. It seems Laventon noticed as well;
“This young man was of great assistance to me and my pokemon, so I hope you’ll my bringing him into the village for a bit!” He said as he placed a hand on Kobii’s shoulder. Kobii just tried to look as un-threatening as he could.
The guards looked at each other for a moment before they nodded wordlessly. With a pat of his shoulder, Laventon began to stride past the entrance, Kobii following behind, trying not to look at the guards.
When they walked into the village, he stopped, a strange feeling rising in his stomach. Looking around, Kobii felt like something was deeply wrong even though it seemed quite peaceful.
There was a bunch of wooden buildings, he guessed they were houses, a crop field, a fenced off area to the far right. A bunch of people were around too, and they all seemed at ease. Some children ran around while adults of all ages talked in the streets, there was even a few more people in the strange red uniform standing around.
Perhaps it was the large orange building that was at the end of the path right through the centre of the village, it stood as an imposing figure. Burying the unease, Kobii quickly caught up with the Professor who hadn’t stopped and had now started to talk to him as they walked.
“Jubilife village! It’s come a long way thanks to the fine people of the Galaxy Expedition Team! This road we’re on now is known to the locals as Canala Avenue.” Laventon explained.
He was really trying to focus on what he was saying but as they walked, more and more people stopped what they were doing to stare at them. Well, Kobii to be specific, who shrunk in on himself a bit more, staying close to the other man.
“The village was bult scarcely two years ago… There’s much to do yet and not many to do it. And since we know so little of the local pokemon, people hesitate to set foot outside the village.” He explained, now raising an arm to point at the big building Kobii had spotted before.
“Now, that impressive building ahead of us is Galaxy Hall – Headquarters for this entire outfit!” Kobii guessed Laventon meant himself by that. After that, they stopped in front of a small wooden bridge, the Professor turning to face him quickly.
“Oh botheration! I’d almost forgotten! I need to go explain that we managed to successfully recovered the escaped pokemon! Might I ask you to wait for me at the canteen?” He stuck his arm out to point at a smaller building than the rest, Kobii would guess it looked a bit more traditional than the rest, but only by a small bit.
“It’s just past this bridge here, then to the left. The Wallflower it’s called!”
“Um, Su-“ Before he could even respond, Laventon gave him nod with his seemingly ever constant grin and turned around to run towards the big building from before, his white lab coat trailing behind him.
Feeling uncomfortable with the people’s eyes still on him without the Professor, he began to make his way to the canteen when a quiet beeping was heard.
On instinct, he pulled out the phone he had found earlier, a map now being displayed on the screen. Staring at it for a moment, he figured out that it was in fact a map of the village he was in now, a small marker on a building across the bridge, he guessed that it was the building that the Professor had pointed out for him earlier.
Deciding that he would stare at the map later on, Kobii walked across the bridge and arrived in front of the canteen. He mused that it looked rather similar to a café, a table and chairs out the front.
A hunched off man was in front of the door and he frowned as soon as he was visible. After looking Kobii up and down with a scrutinising look, which he found to be very uncomfortable, he spoke.
“Well now, aren’t you awfully suspicious?” Kobii was trying to think of something to say that wouldn’t make him seem more suspicious when the man suddenly straightened and yelled at him.
“The Wallflower’s for Galaxy Team folk only. We don’t have seats for outsiders. Move along!” He barked, his voice rough and intimidating for someone of the man’s stature.
Kobii could already feel more eyes on him, the people in red uniforms now beginning to talk amongst themselves, about himself Kobii guessed. This was.. less than ideal.
Before Kobii could even try and explain that he wasn’t here to eat but to wait for Laventon, the man turned his back on him, ending the encounter, and went inside the canteen. He supposed he knew why the Professor called it the canteen in the first place now and not a restaurant like he guessed.
Focusing on the ground and trying to think of what to do that wouldn’t get the guards immediately chucking him out, Kobii was caught off guard by a new voice,
“Who are you? I’ve never seen anyone dressed like you are.” A girl in a dark blue outfit walked up, a white bandanna keeping her hair from hanging over her face and a red scarf wrapped tightly around her neck.
‘This is it, I’m going to be thrown out right away and the Professor will have to come get me.’ Kobii was then pleasantly surprised when the girl kept talking however quite casually.
“What if you were attacked by a pokemon? You’d be minced meat in those flimsy clothes!” She huffed, crossing her arms as she looked over what he was wearing. Shaking her head, she opted to drop the topic.
“If the guard let you through, you must have ties with somebody in the village…” She mused, and Kobii, full of relief of someone who didn’t stare him down like some complete alien, nodded.
“Perhaps you’ve met Professor Laventon? He’s a scholar from a faraway place. His pokemon do get away from him at times, though. It does make me a bit worried for him..” Kobii relaxed more now that she knew Laventon, surely if the two were close then she’d have no problems with him either.
“I suppose I’m hardly one to talk – I’ve had some trouble with pokemon myself.” She sighed, looking dejected.
“Oh, really?” He asked to which the girl nodded.
“I was hit by a pokemon move called ‘Thunder Shock’ not too long ago and had to take to my bed.”
For some reason, the notion of a person being hit by such a potentially deadly move sounded unheard of to him but the girl in front of him spoke as if it was plenty common.
“But the Professor…well… I do wonder how long he’ll last.”
“O-oh, I’m sure he’s not that much at danger is he?” Kobii said, trying to put some faith in the man he had met earlier.
“Unfortunately it’s just as Akari says… I’m a clumsy sort of fellow, to put it mildly!” A familiar voice chuckled as the Professor walked up to the two of them, standing next to the girl, Akari.
‘So she’s the one that he mentioned when I was catching his pokemon for him.’ Kobii noted as Akari looked like she’d been caught red handed.
“Professor!” She exclaimed, seeming a bit embarrassed to be caught publicly worrying about him, although Kobii didn’t think he minded a bit.
“But everything will be quite alright now! Kobii here has agreed to help us with our Pokedex!” Hearing that, Akari frowned and looked between Laventon and him, turning to complain to the pokemon professor.
“Excuse me? You plan to appoint him to the Survey Corps?” She placed her hands on her hips and continued,
"You can’t just slap a badge on whoever you like without Captain Cyllene’s permission!” She chided. Kobii began to realise that Akari was probably one of the people who kept Laventon on track most of the time.
“I’ll allow it.” A new voice added, a tall woman in a similar uniform as Akari walked up to the three of them, a stoic expression on her face and short light blue hair.
“Captain Cyllene!” Akari exclaimed in the same fashion she had when the Professor had arrived only moments prior.
“Assuming the individual can contribute to the Survey Corps, that is.” She then turned to face him, her arms folded behind her back.
“I am the captain of the Galaxy Team’s Survey Corps. You may call me Cyllene.”
Kobii stood in the small field and turned the pokeball around in his hand as he looked between the rocks at Cyndaquil which was happily running around.
‘Right… aim for the pokemon, throw the ball and it should be caught..’ He took a deep breath and began to slowly walk towards the fiery pokemon, careful to not startle it. The creature itself seemed to be content to ignore him for he most part. With one last glance back at the professor, Kobii raised his arm and suddenly threw the ball with pinpoint accuracy, even he was surprised that it hit Cyndaquil. Both he and Laventon watched on with a bated breath as the ball rolled once, twice, and then a third time before making a clicking sound and the ball stopped.
“Oh wonderful!” The professor exclaimed, grinning and holding a pair of very enthusiastic thumbs up. “You’ve caught a pokemon!” Kobii nodded, still a bit surprised at how easy it seemed and picked up the ball, rotating it in his hands again he kept speaking,
“It seems you’ve quite the knack for this Pokemon catching business, Kobii! Jolly useful skill to have around here.” He commented with a nod and a smile as Kobii walked over to where he was standing.
“Only two of my darling runaways left now. Would you like me to hold onto Cyndaquil while you try for the other two?” After a moment of thinking, Kobii nodded and passed over the now still pokeball, “Yes please, thanks Professor.” Laventon pocketed the pokeball with a chuckle,
“No need to call me that my boy, Laventon is fine. Goodness, you sound just like Akari when you call me that.” Before he had the chance to ask who that was, he continued to speak,
“Still, this is the most unusual. You don’t seem fearful of pokemon in the slightest…” He muttered, a thoughtful hand to his chin before he gently shook his head.
“No matter, do try and catch the other two, I’ll be here cheering you on.” Laventon smiled and handed Kobii another empty pokeball.
‘Right, stay focused.’ Glancing out to the field, he decided to go for Rowlett next as Oshawott was happily swimming around in the pond and he doubted it would be able to catch a pokemon that was swimming.
Slowly walking up the slow incline, Rowlett could be seen scratching and hopping around the tall pine tree. He tried to copy what he did last time and raised his arm, getting his aim onto Rowlett when suddenly it turned around to face him and they both seemed to freeze.
It started to turn when he pelted the pokeball at the poor bird, capturing it after the ball rolled a few times. He let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding as Laventon yelled out across the field again,
“I can hardly believe it, Kobii! Incredible!” He complimented, clapping enthusiastically. He continued to speak as Kobii walked over again as he had done after catching Cyndaquil, handing the pokeball containing Rowlett over.
“You know, many people fear to even approach pokemon – never mind catch them. Bravo indeed!” Kobii who had had his gaze on the small pond, watching as Oshawott climbed out and started to lay in the sun when all of a sudden a scene he didn’t recognise briefly flashed through his mind.
A pair of hands ruffling his hair as he laughed, a loud voice telling him ‘Bravo!.’ However, this ‘bravo’ was not loud enough, and the Professor was not ruffling his hair, instead he had his arms crossed with a large grin.
“Just one more to go. Let’s wrap this up sharpish, shall we?” He continued, apparently not noticing the slight look of confusion on Kobii’s face.
Dragging himself back into the now, he tucked away that memory(?) away to worry about later and focused back onto the task at hand as Laventon gave him another empty pokeball.
Oshawott was now laying on the ground next to the small pond, soaking in the sun to dry, however as soon as Kobii got close it sat up and let out a playful sound. Getting up and running around the pond.
“H-hey!” Kobii ran after it, holding up his arm and trying to get a good angle to throw the ball however Oshawott continued to happily run laps around the pond, Kobii running helplessly afterwards with the Professor yelling words of encouragement from the edge of the field.
Eventually he realised that he wouldn’t get the chance to get the perfect angle and would have to try with what he had. As Oshawott rounded a corner of the pond, Kobii threw the ball with all his might and to both his and Laventon’s surprise it hit! Kobii slowed from a run to a job and finally stopped, puffing with his hands on his knees, now realising that the running had only increased his headache to his dismay.
‘At least I finally caught it-‘ He had begun to think as he looked up to see the pokeball split in half as the Oshawott was now released, looking at back at him with a playful expression.
“Ah yes, that can happen..” The Professor started, scratching the side of his beanie.
“Poke balls are hardly 100 percent fool proof. Give it another go, old boy!” He encouraged; Kobii just groaned quietly and sunk down for a breather. Laventon chuckled and walked over to hand Kobii a poke ball and give him a hand up.
“Oh! It seems like Oshawott is tired out too.” He commented with an amused smile. Oshawott had waddled over to stand at Kobii’s feet, looking up at him. Kobii thought it was as if it was bragging that it had won their little game.
With a defeated sigh, he gently dropped the poke ball on its head and after a few rolls, the latch on the pokeball clicked shut. Kobii handed the final captured Pokemon over to the Professor who smiled and pocketed it along with the other two.
“Thankyou very much indeed! Oh, what a relief to have them all back. You see, the three Pokemon you caught have only just arrived at our village to help with our research. They won’t listen to anyone.” He explained, a tired yet also fond smile.
“And as I mentioned, they bolted from the village almost as if they knew you’d come falling…” He trailed off. Kobii thought it sounded like he had something else he wanted to say but he shook his head, discarding it.
“But I must say, Kobii, I was taken aback by how well you use poke balls!” The sentiment was shared by the boy himself.
“Really?” Laventon eagerly nodded,
“Yes, truly! How is it that you catch Pokemon so ably when you’ve only just arrived here?” He stayed silent, not knowing the answer either and hoping it would be a rhetorical question.
"One can’t help but think that there’s a reason you appeared here and now…” He trailed off again. Kobii secretly hoped this wasn’t something he did often, before he remembered the phone he had picked up earlier.
‘Seek out all Pokemon…’ Whoever had left him that message had said it was a mission… Seeing as he couldn’t remember much else, he saw no reason to keep it secret. Pulling the oddly shaped case and phone out of the pocket of his shorts, he turned on the screen, the strange message still on the screen and held it up to face the Professor.
“Well, I did find this..?” He offered. Laventon’s eyebrows raised as he looked at the device, having to bend down a little to read the text.
“Seek out all Pokemon…” He muttered, before standing up straight again and crossing his arms.
“Pray tell, what is this object anyways?” He asked and Kobii placed the phone in his pocket again.
“Um, I think it’s called an ‘Arc Phone’.” The fact that Laventon didn’t recognise at least the phone like aspect of the object made him aware of the pit of unease in his stomach again, although he did suppose that he himself hadn’t immediately recognised that it was a phone either…
“An ‘Arc Phone’ you say… What an odd device. Could it be… guiding you somehow?” He questioned, to which Kobii just shrugged. With a nod and a hand on his hip, the Professor continued,
“If you’ll indulge me for a moment, there’s something I’d like to share with you.” Kobii nodded, although he suspected that even if he didn’t respond he would’ve told him anyways.
“You see, I have a dream—to compile this region’s first complete record of it’s Pokemon! We in the field call such a thing a Pokedex.” He said proudly.
‘Pokedex.. Another familiar term..’
“Yes, a proper Pokedex is a wonderful work of research, containing detailed records of all the Pokemon to be found in a region.” He nodded along as he spoke,
“But… In order to properly document Pokemon, one must, of course, catch them. And therein lies the rub I’m afraid…” He sighed despondently, looking up to the sky.
“Pokeballs have only just been invented, and not many have mastered the art of using them.” Again, the notion of Pokeballs being a new invention rubbed Kobii the wrong way, and yet again he stayed quiet about his thoughts, letting Laventon continue.
“Enter you,” He said, looking back at Kobii and crossing his arms, “A person with a clear talent for catching Pokemon! Your goal is to catch all Pokemon and mine is to have all those Pokemon caught.” He then grinned and nodded.
“A situation ripe for teamwork, don’t you agree?” He beamed with a genuine smile.
“Come now! What do you say? Shall we help out one another out, my boy?” The Professor offered. Kobii didn’t have to think for long; He had woken up on a beach and it seemed his memory wasn’t in the best of conditions.
In comes Laventon who in the short time they had interacted, given Kobii two potential links to his memories and past. It was clear what his answer should be.
“Sounds like a deal, Professor.” Kobii slightly smiled and nodded, Laventon chuckling again.
“I did say there was no need to call me Professor didn’t I?,” He sighed, although not seeming annoyed in the slightest,
“Oh well, I suppose it does roll of the tongue well.. Then whoever and from wherever you may be, I welcome you with open arms!” He grinned, reaching his hand out to pat the top of Kobii’s head who he himself let out a small chuckle at the action.
I finally drew my pkm!shield oc again, still don't have a better name for him, but this time he's with Hop! This would be set after the main + after game :)
Originally this was just going to be a silly sketch so I didn't really focus much on anatomy or perspective but I liked it enough so here it is :)
[edit]: reposted from my other tumblr account because I'm moving things around
He takes place of the mc in pokemon shield and grew up with Hop! Fun facts about him:
Hop picked out his jacket because it looked cool, Girliepop couldn't care less about what he looks like.
He's a pikachu fan boy, like, he has plushies of pikachu and a pichu was the first pokemon he ever caught.
Speaking of pokemon, he never really wanted to be a trainer. After he caught pichu, he was quite happy to just have one pokemon and not battle. It wasn't until Hop dragged him out at the start of pokemon shield that he started battling.
He's not very good at making battles fair. Girliepop will always go for the type advantage and does not care if his pokemon are overlevelled. While other trainers may hold back from using super effective moves to make sure both people have fun in non-competitive battles; if girliepop can oneshot them, he will. Even against Hop. Eventually Girliepop will have to learn to make it fun for both people.
He doesn't have a favourite type or a strategy for types on his team, he picks whatever looks cool.
Loves food, can't cook. Luckily Hop can.
Yes I am making Hop and Girliepop friends-to-rivals-to-lovers-
Not as lively as Hop apart from when hes in a challenging battle.
[edit]: reposted from my other tumblr account because I'm moving things around
It's Kobii in Ingo's jacket and hat!! Just a fun perspective exercise that actually turned out better than it thought it would :D
I used one of those perspective people app thingies to get the anatomy of the pose right :))
ALSO here's a version without the hat AND Ingo in Kobii's Galaxy team hat that he never wears. I wish I could do Ingo more justice but I did it in like 5 minutes without reference. Oh well-
I know the pearl uniform looks slightly different but, as I said, I didn't have a reference ;w; I'll come back to it in the future and redraw it probably.
[edit]: reposted from my other tumblr account because I'm moving things around
Kobii and Ingo sharing a meal in what I wanted to be the Coronet Highlands but I haven't practiced backgrounds quite enough to display that. Love the sillies, second time drawing Ingo, for him being one of my favourite characters I really need to draw him more.
[edit]: reposted from my other tumblr account because I'm moving things around
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