The wind whistled and sang. Every beat of Flygon’s wings was a joyful note in a song that called me home.
My eyes traced the outlines of shapes looming in the far-off distance. Buildings bled into one another in the form of a concrete jungle, one with seemingly no end. From within the sprawling metropolis’s folds, skyscrapers soared up into the sky as if they hoped to become one with the clouds themselves. I found myself thinking what a shame it was that it was still morning. At night, the city would be enveloped with countless warm and inviting lights like a sea of stars.
Perhaps I was biased, but out of all the large cities and capitals I’d visited across the years, the Castelia skyline remained the most striking to me.
The sharp caws of Wingull and Pelipper echoed in my ears as we flew past a colony of passing birds. Down below near the sea’s surface, a separate stretch of blinding white caught my attention. It was a massive cruise ship on its way back to Castelia. Judging by the pristine exterior and fancy crestings, it was quite the luxury liner, too. Passengers strolled around the main deck in the form of blob-like ants from this distance. My eyesight might have been a bit better than a normal human’s, but the distance was too far for me to make out their details. I was, however, able to read the words sewn onto a flag waving in the wind when I concentrated.
The Royal Unova.
Huh, so it was fully operational now. They’d still been in the process of building the ship when I was a kid.
I ripped my gaze away from the luxury liner. At the end of the horizon, skyscrapers were growing ever darker and larger. We were coming up fast on the mainland. A few smaller ships passed underneath us, all on their way to the wharf growing in the distance. It was massive enough that it hugged the entirety of the city’s southern border. I could make out the Five Piers from here. Like the name suggested, they were landing areas spread out in the shape of fingers.
I remembered when I was a kid, I asked dad why they were placed like that. He’d said something about how the original architect wanted to emulate the idea of a helping hand.
At any rate, the piers were already busy this early in the morning. Dockworkers and their Pokemon moved in unison as they hauled crates and other cargo, but they weren’t the only ones around. There were plenty of people waiting for ferries or even couples and joggers out on runs.
My heart beat a little faster in my chest as we zipped past the docks and into the beginnings of the concrete jungle itself. I had Flygon fly lower and slow down a little so I could take in the city from above—
I almost laughed when I heard obnoxious honking sounds come from a congested intersection further away. A Castelia Transportation Authority (CTA) bus had accidentally blocked the whole road, and now frustrated drivers were laying into him the only way they knew how: by blasting their car horns.
Oh Castelia, Castelia. Twenty years had gone by, but some things never changed.
It was a certain time in the city right now, two words that most Castelians hated hearing: rush hour.
The asphalt streets were full of cars that had ground to a halt, yes, but the sidewalks were equally as crowded. Hordes of businessmen, students, and other commuters hurried down the streets to their destinations in a moving sea of bodies. Most of them were on their way to take local buses or the subway. I knew that underground, there were probably people fighting for space on the trains even as they were packed like sardines.
Castelia was always moving.
Some people may have found it chaotic, but it was this constant hustle and bustle — an entire way of life — that endeared itself to me and brought back a heavy wave of nostalgia.
Too late, I found myself grinning as I directed Flygon to where we needed to go. My previous reluctance to go on this trip was rapidly fading. I was suddenly looking forward to this impromptu vacation a lot more than I had originally anticipated.
It wasn’t so easy forgetting one’s birthplace after all. How was dad always right?
As much as I wanted to appreciate the city some more, I urged Flygon to once again fly as fast as possible. There was a reason for it: I was still dressed in the bulky, insulated clothes I’d worn for our hike up Glaseado Mountain, and I was starting to suffocate from the heat as a result. I hurriedly unzipped my outermost jacket and slung it over one arm. It was so much warmer here in Unova.
Buildings blurred past in indistinguishable shapes as Flygon put a step on it, and they only became more densely-packed the further in we flew. There was a mix of sleek, modern high-risers and more historical buildings, but we started seeing more of the former as we neared the heart of the city.
Castelia’s arguably most famous area, Central Plaza, came into view within seconds.
Color, color, and so much color… Wherever I turned, vibrant hues infiltrated my vision from digital billboards so gigantic that they covered several floors of buildings. On their screens, images and advertisements constantly played and shed their glow on hundreds of pedestrians walking the streets below. Most of those people were moving along to get to work, but some stopped just briefly to watch buskers perform dances or songs off to the side of the street. A large fountain with a Swanna motif stood smack dab in the center of the plaza.
This was Castelia’s biggest intersection and where its maze of streets eventually flowed back to.
It also happened to be a tourist hotspot. Luckily, since I had returned to Unova right before peak tourism season, I’d managed to snag a room at one of the city’s best hotels even on extremely short notice. It wasn’t the one dad used to work at, though. I could have gotten a room somewhere less crowded, but I’d chosen a place in Central since it was close to the city’s — not to mention the world’s — largest train station. It was going to make commuting around the city easier later.
Even in the midst of bodies that covered up nearly every inch of the available sidewalks, Flygon’s sharp eyes managed to pinpoint a half-hidden landing pad. He promptly flew down to it, and I threw myself off his back the instant he hit the ground. I needed a shower and a change of clothes pronto.
We got some startled looks from cab drivers taking a break nearby. I was more surprised to see that two of them had Braviary resting on top of metal carriages. Well, well… It looked like Unova had finally taken a page out of Galar and Paldea’s books concerning new modes of transportation.
Flygon went back into his capsule for the time being as I headed for a building down the street. I was holding onto three different things now: a jacket, a vest, and an outer shirt.
I barely registered the ornate sign — Deliora Hotel, it read — decorating the entrance of the lobby I stepped into. Cold air fanned my cheeks and provided temporary relief as I walked up to the counter.
“I’d like to check in, please. Name is Kayden Sterling,” I said quickly, though I didn’t forget to be polite. I handed him my trainer card as a form of ID.
The guy on duty took it and started typing away at his keyboard, but not before he gave me a quick glance over. His brows scrunched as if he didn’t understand what I was doing wearing such a heavy outfit in the burgeoning summer. I didn’t blame him. I was starting to regret not changing before the flight.
You and me both, buddy.
With a professional smile and a nod, the receptionist eventually gave back my ID along with a key card.
“Thank you for choosing the Deliora Hotel for your stay, Mr. Sterling. You’ve been checked in. Here’s the key card for your room. A staff member will guide you…”
I smiled upon hearing the familiar Castelian accent.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
The Unovan accent was unique, but like any other country, it varied slightly by region. The Castelia City dialect had a distinct pronunciation of its own. People who weren’t used to Unovan accents in general tended to think the speakers were being aggressive with them, but that usually wasn’t the intention. It was just the way Castelians dropped their pitches at the ends of words, or the not-so-subtle way they added or removed the r’s in situations… There were a lot of other fine details, but it had a lot to do with using the lower part of your mouth when speaking. I heard the Castelian accent every time I talked to dad, but there was just something different about hearing it here from a stranger.
It really drove home the fact that I had returned to my birthplace.
I uttered my thanks with a smile of my own and followed a worker on standby to the elevator. We had it all to ourselves as we stepped inside. As we rode up, I took the chance to wipe some sweat from my brow.
I’d booked a suite on one of the hotel’s uppermost floors, so it was a very long ascent.
The air conditioning kept me happy throughout, though, and soon I was following the staff member out the elevator and into the hall. He guided me to one of only three doors. I left him a tip before entering my room.
It was beautifully modern and full of expensive, refined furniture, but I didn’t care much about how it looked. The most important thing was how spacious the suite was. My biggest criteria when booking a hotel had been size and if it was Pokemon-friendly.
I released all of my Pokemon from their Pokeballs as fast as possible. Red light engulfed the suite as one Bug after another gradually took over the various rooms and living spaces. I would have joined them in exploring, but I had other plans. I dumped my backpack and made a beeline for the shower.
Cold, refreshing water sprayed against my skin once I’d peeled off layers of sweaty clothing. I felt alive again.
Now this was the life.
One extra-long and indulgent shower later, I was out of the bathroom with wet hair and pajamas. My intent was to sleep a little bit before I got started on this vacation in earnest. I faceplanted on the king-sized bed.
Well, I tried to at least.
Disapproving buzzes and clicks from more than a few of my Pokemon stopped me midway. Rune was the most vocal of the bunch. Sleeping with wet hair could lead to health issues apparently.
I rolled my eyes. “Let me get the hair dryer then— oh. Never mind.”
Vespiquen sat me down on the bed while Centiskorch scuttled over with a determined expression. It looked like I wasn’t getting the option of a hair appliance.
“Just… don’t burn the bed. Or my hair. Or… anything.”
Together, the two of them fanned warm air across my head. It was so pleasant that I felt my eyelids drooping. I was pretty sure someone even combed my hair at one point with their claw, but I couldn’t remember.
I woke up two hours later with no recollection of me ever falling asleep.
Rune buzzed a greeting from the other side of the room. He’d made himself comfortable on one of the couches since he was far too big for any of the armchairs. The others were scattered around the suite doing various things. One group in particular — Ribombee, Golisopod, Galvantula, and Frosmoth — were huddled around my phone playing chess in a tag team format. I was just glad to see they’d made sure to charge it as they played. I didn’t want to walk around without any battery later.
“Alright, gang,” I drawled out, trying not to yawn.
The covers were pulled back as I got out of bed and made my way to the main living area. I snagged a city brochure the hotel kindly supplied from a wall rack as I went.
Everyone abandoned whatever they were doing to stare expectantly at me. I slapped the brochure down on a table after finding what I wanted: a map of Castelia. The corners of my lips curled up into the beginnings of an excited smile. No matter the circumstances that had driven me away from Unova in the first place, it wasn’t going to stop me from enjoying my unexpected time here.
Though… I made sure to remind myself in the back of my mind that this would be a short vacation. How short, I had no idea yet, but that’s all this was gonna be.
A little break. That was all.
“We’ll be sticking around for… a bit. What do we want to do first?” I asked.
My Pokemon had only ever heard stories about Castelia from me, so it was no surprise when they clamored that they wanted to do everything.
That… was a tall order considering we were in the largest city in the world populated by millions of people and things to do, but it would be arranged to the best of my ability.
After a quick breakfast, I started rummaging for clothes in my foldable-space backpack while my Pokemon played rock-paper-scissors. Out came a pair of jeans, dark T-shirt, and comfortable pair of white sneakers, but I was torn between wearing a letterman jacket or a green zip-up hoodie.
I ended up choosing the latter and left it unzipped. I was right on time for the conclusion of the tournament that had been going on in the background, too. Kricketune and Ribombee won.
They were all going to take turns eventually, but my Pokemon had been fighting over who would be the first to accompany me around the city.
In large and densely-populated cities like Castelia, obviously there was a limited amount of walking space. Trainers and civilians alike were usually only allowed to have a few Pokemon out with them at a time. This sucked more for trainers with full teams or large Pokemon because they couldn’t experience everything together at once.
My Pokemon and I had a workaround for that, one that we’d developed over the years at the cost of countless vomit sessions by yours truly. I’d taken my childhood incident with the wild Crustle and Dwebble and used that as inspiration for how to hone my Ability further. I was now capable of hosting a sort of ‘link’ with Pokemon I had a strong connection with. Anyone connected to that link could share their memories or what they were currently seeing. It was also useful for communicating telepathically among other things.
I called it the Sterling Network much to the chagrin of my Pokemon. Not very creative, but I never had a good naming sense to begin with. Considering I was twenty-six now, that wasn’t going to change anytime soon.
Anyway, there was no specific plan of action today. We’d decided to explore randomly. Easy enough. We had all the time in the world to check out a city as big as Castelia.
A part of me wanted to throw open the balcony doors and head out on Flygon, but I settled for doing things the mundane way and went out to the elevator instead. Kricketune gave me a look when the elevator doors slid shut and we started going down. He raised an arm questioningly.
I snorted with laughter. “Go ahead, Tune. No one else is here.”
The last syllable hardly left my mouth before Kricketune rubbed his blade-like arms together with glee. An upbeat fiddle tune instantly filled the elevator. Ribombee hummed along, bobbing her head this way and that to the beat.
Kricketune loved playing music. The location and time didn’t matter to him and never would.
I had to keep a straight face when the elevator slid to a halt on the eleventh floor. Kricketune instantly stopped playing before the doors opened and lowered his arms. He now stood still with an innocent expression like nothing was wrong, but…
The person waiting for the elevator — a young lady with freckles and red hair — stared at us with an absolutely baffled expression.
“Did… Did you just hear music?” she asked. “Because I swore I just— you know what? Never mind.”
With a shake of her head, the woman stepped inside the elevator before the doors could close. I eyed my two Pokemon from the corner of my eye as our little prison began its descent once more.
Kricketune winked at me while Ribombee’s frame shook with silent giggles.
The moment we got out of the elevator and walked through the lobby, I nudged Kricketune with a hand.
“You wanna try busking later, bud? A lot of musicians play on the streets here in Castelia,” I suggested.
He made a series of thrilled buzzes in response. Very long-winded, but he was excited at the prospect of performing for an audience. My Pokemon chatted as we stepped out of the lobby doors into fresh air once more.
Now dressed in an outfit appropriate for the weather, I felt more at ease. I tilted my head back briefly to take in the billboards of Central. Most of them were displaying upcoming musicals, movies, or products set to hit the market soon. Then my attention went to the couple that passed directly by me.
They wore white T-shirts with a famous logo attached to them: I (HEART) CASTELIA. I chuckled to myself.
Dead giveaway for tourists, alright. I’d always thought those T-shirts were cringy even when I was a kid.
I took a step forward only to pause in place. With some degree of hesitation, my hand crept up to the hood I’d kept over my head since walking out of the hotel. Maybe it was childhood habits and memories influencing me, but I felt the urge to make myself scarce as I walked through the streets of Castelia.
I had to remind myself that this wasn’t the Unova of twenty years ago.
With a quiet exhale, I pulled back my hoodie. My scalp prickled almost uncomfortably with nothing to cover it. I almost thought someone out there was going to point and yell at me, but nothing happened. People strolled by without a care in the world.
Duh. What had I been expecting?
I felt myself relaxing. Hell, I even felt emboldened. On the off chance that someone recognized me on the streets, I decided I wasn’t going to give two shits about it.
I had every right to be here.
I shoved my hands into my pockets, smiling.
“Let’s go,” I heard myself utter, and I stepped out of the hotel’s shade into the light.
Kayden’s Pokemon for reference purposes
- Rune / Volcarona / M
- Flygon / M
- Golisopod / M
- Kricketune / M
- Frosmoth / F
- Centiskorch / M
- Beedrill / M
- Scizor / M
- Heracross / M
- Araquanid / F
- Ribombee / F
- Vespiquen / F
- Scolipede / M
- Galvantula / F
- Yanmega / M
- Armaldo / M