Pokémon x Male Reader-The Sounds of Battle

Chapter 10-The Ascension

While certainly not a one to one replica, the place was about the closest you'd ever get to New York in Pokémon. Fitting for a region that was supposedly based on the city as a whole. Castelia was crowded, and you barely hear yourself think sometimes, but Unova's largest city definitely had its charms.

Way back then, the war between the two heroes had basically wiped out all major civilization that had existed prior. Cities were reduced to craters, and the governments that previously inhabited them followed suit. Much like Kalos, one of the most developed regions was suddenly a bleak and desolate wasteland. Though the situation was a hopeless situation for many, that blank slate was also a clear opportunity for others.

People had come from all over the world to take advantage of what little the horrors of war had left behind. In search of wealth and fortune, these peoples had made their way up massive waterways that surrounded the city, before settling atop the destroyed husk of the past era's Castelia. From there, they had built up their own little communities, until these groups had melted together, and formed the roots of the city you found yourself in today. That's not to say traces of the original communities didn't exist at all. Though rather than Chinatown of Little Italy, you had New Paldea and such.

"Lo! Lo-Meloettaaaa." Your Pokémon waved its arms wildly in the air, pulling you away from the past that seemed to stain your mind oh-so frequently.

"Trevenant?" It took you a moment to understand what your Pokémon was trying to communicate, until you were brought back to your previous conversation. "What-Oh! N-Not like that kind of tree! A Christmas tree has lights on it, and typically isn't trying to kill you." You grinned. "Back where I'm from, it's a sort of tradition."

"H-Hey!" Some guy in worn clothing shouted at you from the patio of a nearby cafe, interrupting your little culture lesson. "Y-You there, with the-Uh-Jacket! I saw y'all on the big screens. I gots some money on you, so don't go getting yer asses beat too fast!"

You sighed, giving the man a small nod as acknowledgement. Hayate and her father weren't the first people to recognize you, and they obviously weren't going to be the last. The news company was really hyping this shit up, likely because there wasn't too much going in the formal gym circuit.

See, most of the annual challengers had made their way up near Mistralton by now, which meant that they would be challenging Skyla. That typically wouldn't be a problem, though the flying type gym leader had been taking a...questionable approach to her job lately. An approach that consisted of her not doing said job at all. Instead, she had just defaulted to what she had dubbed "air battles", which were very different from sky battles, mainly because they weren't battles at all. Instead, she had begun handing badges off to challengers who looked strong enough, and withheld that honor from trainers who appeared weak.

Much to your surprise, it apparently wasn't the first time she'd pulled this, which really made you question the position of authority that she held. But then again, Grimsley had a habit of disappearing to foreign regions and blowing a shitload of money in casinos there, so maybe powerful trainers were just allowed to have a laissez-faire approach to their duties. Hell, Alder certainly seemed to do whatever he pleased, and a champion set a precedent for the rest of the region to follow.

Politics aside, people were understandably pissed, and the Pokémon league was in damage control mode, which meant that they were trying to divert attention in any way they could. And as fate would have it, you were caught right in the center of that diversion. The opening rounds were tonight, and the impending event had set the Pokémon savvy parts of the city ablaze.

Though the existence of the Castelia Summit Tournament had nearly distracted you from one of your other main objectives in Castelia.

Relic Song, the key to unlocking Pirouette Form for Meloetta. You wouldn't be returning to Castelia anytime soon after this, so this was likely your only shot at the move. If you couldn't nab Relic Song here, then you'd be running through Sinnoh with half of Meloetta's potential sealed, and that would be a very dangerous game, especially given the monstrous Pokémon and trainers running around in that region. Unlike Unova, who's new era of powerful trainers was still looming on the horizon, Sinnoh's previous generation of top talents were still all well within their primes.