Ash's Story (Part 6: Unova)

Chapter 24: Castelia Bloom

The path back from Castelia Park should have felt lighter, but the sewers stayed with me longer than the sunlight did.

Liepard walked beside my leg, silent and graceful, while Cottonee drifted above Alice's shoulder whenever the wind slipped between buildings. Petilil rested close to Alice's arms, watching the city with careful eyes.

Castelia had shown us roots and wind after darkness, but Team Plasma's words still scraped at the back of my mind. Old king. Betrayal. Liberation. Tools.

Pikachu pressed his cheek against mine from my shoulder. His meaning came gentle but firm. "Do not let sewer words ride the city wind."

"I'm trying," I said quietly.

Alice heard me anyway. She always heard the parts of me that were almost swallowed. "Trying counts when the wound keeps talking."

Eve looked between us, her expression guarded but not sharp. "Trying counts, but Alice does not have to carry all of it."

Alice turned to her sister. "I know."

Eve held her gaze for a second, then nodded. It was not an argument. It was a promise being checked before it became a habit.

Golly walked with her notebook tucked under one arm and Gastly floating beside her shoulder. "The next safe step is public, scheduled, and supervised. That is better than chasing underground rumors."

Iris leaned forward, Axew peeking from her hair. "You mean the Gym?"

Cilan smiled, but it carried the special brightness he got whenever food, art, or performance entered the journey. "Actually, Shelly said Burgh was preparing the Gym after the sewer trouble. Castelia is also hosting a Contest today."

I stopped walking. "A Contest?"

Cilan gave a graceful nod. "A Triple Battle Contest, to be precise. Unova's format is quite distinctive."

Iris spun toward me. "You need ribbons too, right? Then this is perfect!"

Perfect was not the word I would have used. My hands still remembered the sewer walls, and my chest still remembered Team Plasma using a name they had no right to touch.

But the journey was not only chasing people who hurt Pokémon. If I let Team Plasma decide every step, they would still be controlling the road.

Alice seemed to know that before I did. "You do not have to feel soft to make something beautiful."

I looked at her, then at Cottonee drifting in a careful loop around her shoulder.

Cottonee's meaning brushed through me like a nervous breeze. "Wind can shake and still carry."

I breathed out slowly. "Then we enter."

The Castelia Contest Hall looked nothing like a Gym.

Instead of a battlefield hidden behind a maze, the building opened into a bright lobby full of banners, flower displays, city-style fashion, and Trainers practicing with three Pokémon at once.

An announcer's voice carried from inside the main hall. "All Coordinators are reminded that today's Castelia Contest uses Triple Battle performance rules. Beauty, timing, battle control, and emotional harmony will all be judged."

Golly read the posted rules twice. "Three Pokémon per performance. Battle contact allowed within safe limits. Points awarded for coordinated command, visual effect, tactical restraint, and crowd response."

Iris grinned. "So it is like a battle, but prettier."

Cilan looked deeply offended. "It is a performance where battle becomes expression, Iris. Prettier is only the first layer."