Chapter Text
The ZA Royale. The idea of it had always sounded absurd. I mean, Qusartico Inc couldn’t really promise a wish for just about anything, could it? Still, the idea at least sounded interesting.
That’s what Shanna had thought for a while at least. News of the ZA Royale had reached her home in Nimbasa City, but she was always too focused on her job to really put any thought into it. That was until recently, at any rate.
About a year and a half ago, she decided that change was needed in her life. She started to save money in hopes of moving to Lumiose City, if only temporarily. Now, she was on a train to Lumiose with her partner Goldie, a Maractus sitting right beside her
Shanna glanced down and smiled as she gently scratched Goldie’s head, a task that was no easy feat as the thorns made it difficult to find a safe place to put her hand. The longer the train ride went on, the more nervous Shanna began to feel. What if she got there and wasn’t able to join?
She tried to shake it off and Goldie rested her hand on Shanna’s arm, a worried expression on her face as she noticed Shanna’s nerves. Shanna let out a small huff and scratched Goldie’s head one more time as she sighed.
“Thank you.” She said aloud, leaning back. “It should only be a few more minutes.” Shanna finished as she began looking at her watch. She was right. Only ten more minutes before they were scheduled to arrive at the station.
The rest of the ten minutes went by without a hitch. As the train stopped, Shanna reluctantly recalled Goldie in order to keep the two of them together in the chaos as everyone started to get off the train. After weaving her way through the carriage, she eventually found her way to the entrance into Lumiose City.
The sights weren’t all too different from Shanna’s home in Nimbasa, save for the amount of Pokemon roaming the streets. Everywhere she looked she saw a Pidgey resting on a telephone pole, or a Kakuna inside a tree. She kept moving as she looked around in awe and eventually crashed into someone, sending them both tumbling to the ground.
They both landed with a thud, and it took Shanna a second to register what had happened. When she looked up, she saw the woman she had knocked over scowling at her as she stood back up.
“Watch where you’re going!” She shouted, crossing her arms. As Shanna tried to stand up, she couldn’t help but blush at the woman, but quickly regained her composure and glanced away in embarrassment.
“I’m sorry,” Shanna said, trying to hide her blush. “I’m not from here, and…”
“Most tourists know to keep their eyes in front of them.” The woman replied, sighing. “Whatever. Just be more careful next time, alright?” She finished, before turning and walking away.
Shanna reached out her arm for a second before stopping herself, deciding it was best not to go any further. She watched the woman walk away for a few moments before shaking her head to snap herself out of it. After about a minute of thinking she decided it would be best to find a park to sit down at and find a vacant hotel to stay in for the time being.
As Shanna began walking, this time paying much more attention to her surroundings, she had to fight to keep the woman out of her mind. As she tried to stay focused, she immediately felt defeated as she found what seemed to be a park, but with the gates keeping pokemon inside of a wild zone surrounding it. She let out a slight laugh at the situation before deciding that any bench would do.
After she finally found a place to sit, she started scolding herself for not looking for a place to stay on the train. Everywhere she could find was either exorbitantly priced or full, save for one all the way at the other end of the city. She let out a sigh and sent out Goldie, then reached down to pat her head.
“We’ve got a long walk ahead of us, Goldie.” Shanna told her and began walking at a pace slow enough for her to keep up without issue. The two of them walked along, taking in their surroundings at a much safer pace while occasionally glancing over at one another. The sights were just as wonderful as they were when she had first arrived in the city, and she couldn’t help but feel safe despite all of the wild Pokemon around her.
Around the same time Shanna had decided to start saving money, a disaster had struck Lumiose City. A weapon lying dormant within Prism Tower had fired, and if it wasn’t for the whole city coming together and the efforts of one trainer, the city would have been destroyed in its entirety. Most of the damage done by the weapon had been recovered from, but the ruins of Prism Tower were still left in the same state they were in when the disaster struck.
The disaster had drawn even stronger Pokemon to the city than before, and while most of them were still native to Kalos, it also brought a bevy of strong trainers with it, though most of them were here to participate in the ZA Royale, as it was still promising wishes to those who could fight their way through the rest.
As Shanna walked side by side with Goldie, the thought of the wild zones and ZA Royale started to creep in on her. She really was in Lumiose - there was no turning back anymore. Though it was late in the day, the two of them had yet to make it to their destination. She could think about it once she made it to her room.
Finally, the two of them arrived at the hotel Shanna had found. The exterior wasn’t very flashy - the paint on the walls had clearly faded and the bushes growing along the walls were noticeably untended to, though they did somewhat resemble Bergmite. Shanna sighed and turned to Goldie with a slightly nervous smile on her face.
“It’s only for a few nights. From what I’ve heard, the payout for the ZA Royale is actually pretty high.” Shanna said, though she wasn’t sure if she was saying it to herself or Goldie. After, she pulled out Goldie’s pokeball and recalled her, sighing.
“Sorry, Goldie. It’s probably best not to push our luck.” She said as she recalled Goldie. She looked at the pokeball with a reassuring nod before putting it back on her waist and walking through the doors to the hotel.
The inside was surprisingly more welcoming than the outside, though the man working the desk was playing on his phone and was clearly thinking of something else. He perked up at the sound of the door opening and put away his phone, though he didn’t seem all too enthused to have a customer.
“Welcome to Bergmite Hotel,” the man said as Shanna approached. Once she got close enough, she was able to see that his nametag said ‘Tristan.’ “Do you have a reservation?” Tristan asked, his tone neutral.
“No, I don’t.” Shanna replied, glancing away slightly. “I saw that there was a room listed online, and had nowhere else to go.”
At that, Tristan let out an exhausted sigh and leaned over to the computer in front of him and began typing. After about a minute he stood back up and turned to Shanna with the same exhausted look on his face.
“The price to stay here for one night is $200 pokedollars. I trust you have that, right?” He asked, looking at her expectantly.
Shanna nodded and handed about triple the money to Tristan. He counted it and glanced back up, a bit of a confused look.
“Three nights, then?” Tristan asked, turning around slightly to reach behind himself.
“At least. I’m hoping to find an apartment somewhere.” Shanna replied, nodding.
“Very well. You’re sleeping in room twenty-three.” Tristan said, handing her the key. “There’s an elevator just down the hall.”
“Thank you.” Shanna replied, taking the key and walking away. She heard Tristan lean back into his chair as she left, and upon taking a closer look at her key, she realized the chain was shaped like Bergmite. She let out a small chuckle at it before walking into the elevator, and riding it up to her room.
After about a minute, the elevator took her to the second floor. There were only a few rooms along the halls, so it wasn’t all too difficult for her to find her room. She quickly unlocked the door and hurried inside, eager to finally be able to rest.
The room had even more Bergmite themed items inside. There was a lamp shaped like one and the pillows were obviously meant to resemble Avalugg. Seeing everything, Shanna decided that maybe she should ask about it in the morning, but for now, it was time for her to rest. In the morning, she would finally sign up for the ZA Royale.