KO_bulba
Xirava still clings to its rituals.
Six sigils. Six sanctioned ascensions. A league system older than most of its cities. Deliberate, ceremonial, and untouchable.
But Xirava is no longer what it once was.
Glass towers rise where shrines once stood. Circuits replace pilgrimage roads. And in the growing urban sprawl, more voices are beginning to question the league's traditions - calling them excessive, archaic... even cult-like. The old order insists it is preservation. The new generation calls it restraint.
Six years, Kieran had waited.
Held back by circumstances no one fully explained, forced to watch others leave far while his own journey stalls before it even begins. By the time he finally steps beyond his town's borders, he does so without announcement, without ceremony, and without permission.
Meanwhile, something in the region is shifting. Not loudly. Not openly.
Just enough to make the faithful uneasy.
And enough to make the ambitious wonder whether six sigils were ever meant to be a ceiling.
DISCLAIMER (necessary, I guess):
This is a fanfic work. I do not own Pokémon or any canon characters, regions, or trademarks. All official material belongs to its respective creators.
This story also introduces original regional variants native to Xirava. Visual designs aren't provided, so most retain the original typing of their canonical counterparts while reflecting regional adaptations. Hopefully, it'd help to imagine them through description comfortably. 💫