The tan walls of Oppida Prima cupped the city and made it barely visible, yet the spires of towers spilled over the top and farmland spilled over its sides. Farmers rose from their work to wave at us or touch the brim of their straw hats in acknowledgement of us. Two children dashed across the street after a Herdier who spun and barked along with their laughter. At the gate we returned our mounts to their apricorns and presented our badges to the opulent blue and red armored guard. The guard looked us up and down quickly before leaning out of the gatehouse and looking us over again. "Are you sure you're with the church? She looks like it, and he looks like it-" He gestured to Allison and pointed at Percius. "-but you two ain't quite as... grand." He glared at us with annoyance, as though doing so would make us confess that we weren't with the church or agree that we weren't as grand. Donald gave him a look that told me this wasn't the first time he'd been told that.

"We're all trainers with the Church of Arceus, sir." Allison assured, gesturing to each of us in turn. "Percius Skal, Dragon Lancer. Jackson Woolherder, Ghost Hunter. Donald Darkwater, Arceian Trainer and son of late Priestess Ethel Darkwater. Allison Fayeri, Story Weaver and sister of Priestess Emilia Fayeri." She ended with a hand splayed proudly across her own chest. "We're here to deliver a letter to the Emperor from the Mouth Of Arceus."

"That right?" The guard sat back in his chair again, scratching his ear. "Ghost Hunter, huh? You're not carrying any Ghost type Pokemon, are you?"

"Huh?" I started, straightening up suddenly. "Why would I-"

"No, he's not. Houndoom, Absol, Shedinja." Allison interrupted, turning to give me a look that told me to shut up. "Along with a Zubat acquired from the body of a young lady who had perished on the road."

"Unfortunate, that."

"Yes."

"Well, looks like you're well in order, so you can head on through." The guard leaned out of the gatehouse as we walked away to shout after us. "And leave that Absol in its apricorn! Don't need something like that running around in Oppida Prima!"

"Okay! Thank you!" Allison called back, standing with her hands on her hips proudly as we stood in front of the large gate that shaded the area we were standing in. Our first steps into Oppida Prima were a few feet in front of us, and the only obstruction was slowly being cranked open right in front of us. Not only did light spill in through the massive doors but noise did as well; merchants hocking wares, laughter from children and hearty men, women culling those children and men with soft touches or encouraging them with laughter of their own. A young lady played fiddle on the street corner, an Aipom doing a little dance in front of her and using its tail to shake a hat for coins. Framing the scene were houses and businesses; blacksmiths and tailors and taverns; and high above it all was a massive white palace with a red and blue spire that dominated the sky with a massive fluttering flag that bore the symbol of two wolf heads conjoined in either direction, one sleek and blue while the other was bulky and red. Donald and I stood for a moment as we were dumbfounded by the size and extravagant of the capital city, but Allison and Percius had no such issue as Allison spun a circle to give us a confident smile. "Where to first?"

"We should deliver the letter." Percius responded firmly, his eyes following one of the guards as they rode by on the back of a Pyroar, the Pokemon's mane a blazing red as normal but the yellow parts having been dyed blue.

Allison rolled her eyes. "We've got plenty of time to deliver the letter, besides I'm sure the Emperor is busy with other things at this time of day. Like having lunch. Like we should."

"We've got plenty of food." Percius responded again as he started to walk down the street, people moving out of his way and children pointing him out to their guardians only to be shushed and ushered on their way.

"You're no fun!" Allison complained as she ran after him, Donald and I quickly following.

"Since when did you like to have fun?" Donald teased as we caught up, letting Percius lead the way.

"I love to have fun!" Allison scoffed, pouting at the notion.

"Name one fun thing."

"Eating sweets."

"Okay, name two fun things."

Allison fell silent for a moment too long and we laughed as she stammered through her embarrassment.

"Pokemon battling!" Allison finally settled on in a huff.

"Alright, alright. Though the last few Pokemon battles we've had have been more stressful than they've been fun." Donald let out the first relaxed noise I'd heard out of him in some time and stretched his interlaced fingers above his head. "You sure we can't stop by a tavern while we're here, Percy?"

"Don't call me Percy." Percius snapped immediately, glaring over his shoulder at Donald. "We'll have plenty of time in the city after we finish what we're here to do."

The palace was even more impressive up close, towering skyward as though challenging Rayquaza The Skywatcher to come and knock it down, but most of the tower was obscured from our view as we stood in yet another gatehouse, registering our Pokemon with another guard and presenting our badges. After being allowed through, the hallways echoed with our footsteps as we walked along the blue and red runner that covered the distance from the entrance to a massive door just barely open enough to squeeze through. Before we even stepped through that door though, a man rounded the corner with a group of young maids in tow. His dress matched the palace; all blue and white with red tint, though he was also draped in fineries made entirely of gold. He combed his fingers through his white hair as though that could push it back further along his head. "Prepare her room, she will likely return with a response from them, and... prepare four more rooms for our guests. I would ask who you are but your outfits and your badges tell me you're with the Church Of Arceus." The man waved away the maids who all scattered in different directions as he put a hand in his pocket and approached us coolly, the blue cape draped over his shoulders flowing behind him as he moved. He closed his eyes and gave an embarrassed smile. "I suppose your prophet foresaw I would seek out the advice of the Mouth Of Arceus on a certain matter of some importance, but I'm quite impatient and within an hour I had made a decision of my own accord and as such no longer require the word of Arceus."

"Emperor-" My heart stopped as Allison finally identified this man to me. This was the emperor? He was so... unintimidating. Nothing like the stained glass depiction of his grandfather, though I suppose that had been over a hundred years ago. "-I don't think it's wise to entirely disregard the word of Arceus. We have been sent quite a distance to deliver this letter to you and-"

"Ah, you have the letter! In that case, either way, I will receive it and you all may join me for dinner in return for making you come all this way on a pointless endeavor." Emperor Pyridicus held out a gloved hand and Percius hesitantly placed the envelope into it. Emperor Pyridicus slung the envelope with little care for its contents, waving it back and forth as he continued to speak to us on his way back towards the main hall. "I also have the maids preparing each of you a room, so don't worry about finding an inn to stay at while you're in the city. The Dente Eburneos has everything you could possibly want, so there's little need to go down into Oppida Prima proper."

"So much for exploring the city." Donald muttered to me and I subtly nodded in return.

"How was the trip, by the way? I do not often leave the Dente Eburneos so I have little knowledge of the goings-on of the rest of the empire. I mostly leave that to you fine priests and priestesses."

"We're just trainers, actually." I spoke up without really thinking about it. I could feel Allison staring daggers at me.

"Is that right? Then perhaps I'm correct that these words of Arceus can be disregarded if they did not see fit to have it couried by a proper group of priests." Emperor Pyridicus sucked on his cheek in distaste before one of the guards approached him and moved to speak before noticing us and deciding to whisper into his ear instead. Pyridicus nodded and turned to us with a small smile. "It appears I have a few matters to take care of before dinner so I will leave you to Dente Eburneos and her lovely staff. A maid will show you to your rooms and retrieve you once dinner is ready."

A maid seemed to appear out of nowhere as the Emperor walked away from us, ushering us towards the rooms like Blitzkreig rounding up Wooloo into their pen. Each of us were separated into our own room, and I had to pause a moment in the doorway as I looked at my own room. It had two stories and was bigger than the house on the farm. The house I had been raised in would fit inside this room inside the palace of the emperor of Empir. The bed that was provided to me was as big as my bed and Riley's bed combined, twice. As I sank deeper into the plush mattress than I had sunk into anything in my life, I clicked my apricorns and let my Pokemon out into the space. Blitzkrieg immediately pressed his face to the floor and began to snuffled around, making sure he knew what everything in the room smelled like and also getting into a bowl of berries I hadn't noticed had been set out on a low table in what might as well have been a living room for this bedroom. Achilles floated slowly through the air not seeming to care much about anything, including the wall he bumped into and floated back the other way in a lazy spiral. White Omen pushed open the balcony doors and moved out to lay down in the sun and stare down at the city below. I stood up and started to withdraw Excalibur from his sheathe when I heard a scream by the door and the crash of metal hitting the floor. I dashed down the stairs to see one of the maids had dropped a platter full of berries and was standing frozen as Blitzkrieg gobbled them up off the floor around her feet.

"It's alright, he won't hurt you." I assured, nodding at the maid. "I'm a Ghost Hunter and he's my partner Pokemon." The maid nodded rapidly before backing out of the room slowly and walking as fast as she could away from my room without actually running. I sighed and ran a hand along Blitzkrieg's back as I moved to close the door. "You're such a troublemaker." I shook my head with a soft smile.