Dollarbeg City

"Who names their city 'Dollarbeg'?", asked Axel.

"Well, there is an interesting story of this city. During ancient times, this was the city of slaves.", replied Frank.

"City of slaves?"

"Yes, during that time, it was normal to have humans and Pokemon as slaves. So, the slaves from this city did a coup and killed all the high-ranking members of the city. Then those slaves claimed the city for themselves."

"That still doesn't explain the name."

"I am getting to it. Even though they were able to own this city, and had all the money and resources of the city, they were uneducated. They didn't have an ounce of experience to run the city or even do a business.

They consumed all the food and resources and the city started to decline due to all the mistakes that they made. Soon, the city became one of the poorest cities during that time.

They didn't want to give up their city cause giving it up meant giving up their freedom so they did what they could only do at that time and that was to beg."

"Really? Such a thing happened. I think none of the city helped them.", said Axel.

"No, you are wrong. Fortunately, due to the slaves taking the city, other slaves from other cities also started to do the same. Some of them succeeded while some could not.

This led other high-ranking members of this world to believe that if they really wanted to survive they should abolish this tradition. Some of them even didn't like this tradition.

So, they did get help."

"That is quite a story but I still don't understand one thing."

"What is it?", asked Frank.

"Why would the king of the Kanto region hold this tournament in the city where slaves killed all the nobles and high-ranking members? I know it happened way into the past but the name of the city would still remind all of us about the history.", said Axel.

That was a good question but Frank already had an answer for it.

"Because one of the slaves that took over the city and killed the nobles was the ancestor of the current king of the Kanto region."

"What? Are you sure? The king has the blood of the slave?"

"Yes, I am pretty sure. It happened in the past like hundreds and thousands of years ago. Of course, the general public doesn't know this but some of us do and the king does hide this information but he also wants to hold it where his ancestor gained their first victory."

"That is quite a story. Let's book a hotel room. We came here 2 days before the tournament, so we might not find one. We must hurry.", said Axel as both of them started to search for hotel rooms.

Axel was not lying when he said it. He could see that the city was packed with people and tourists. The shops were packed, the restaurant was packed and so the hotel was also packed.

Dollarbeg was a very big city. Normally gym cities were the biggest cities in any region but Dollarbeg was an exception. It was as big as some of the gym cities. Its size was almost 2/3rd of New York on Earth. The four sides of the city were covered with forest. There were multiple trade routes that went from the forest and they were properly protected.

The streets were impeccably clean. The roads were pitched black and there were many shops, and hotels that could be found. There was also a residential area and, a government area. There was also a very large building that one could see from anywhere. It was the biggest building in the city and it could be seen from anywhere.

"What is that?", asked Axel.

"Oh, that is the church of Arceus, and that is the church of the first Pokemon master. It is rare to see both of them in the same city and even at the same place built together."

"There is a church here?"

"Yes, this is a very famous city."

Churches were very rare to be found in the city. There could be a church of some mythical Pokemons but the most famous ones would be of Arceus. It was very rare to see the church of the first Pokemon master.

Axel and Frank started to explore the city. They still had 2 days left, so they wanted to enjoy themselves. The Rising Star Tournament didn't take a long time like the league battle. There were only 50 participants in this tournament and Axel believed that it would be over after a few days.

After an hour of exploring, Axel and Frank started to look for a hotel to book their rooms.

###

After searching for a few hotels, they didn't find any rooms available. After the 12th hotel,

"Damn!! I am frustrated. Do we really have to sleep on the road?", asked Axel.

"I don't know. We should have booked it before coming here. This is going to be a hassle."

"We have not tried any hotel in this direction. Let's look for it. If we cannot find it, then we will have to go to the next city for the hotel."

The next city was only a few hours away but it would take considerable time to come here every day. They had not come here to watch the tournament but to participate in it. At least Axel was.

Axel and Frank went to the reception of the hotel. The hotel was 6 stories tall with a number of rooms inside it. Axel and Frank believed that they might have some room here that was available.

A wonderful girl with a beautiful smile wearing the hotel uniform greeted them.

"Hello sir, my name is Reesha. How can I help you today?", asked the receptionist.

"Yes, you can. Can you please tell me that you have 2 rooms for us? We would like to stay here till the end of the tournament.", said Axel.

"Sorry sir but we don't have any rooms available. Most of the hotel is already booked for the competition and you just came very late.", said the receptionist politely.

"But how can they have a competition if the participants don't get to participate in it?", asked Axel with a raising voice. He was truly frustrated.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean to say that I am a participant in the competition and I have searching for a hotel room for 3 hours now. Don't you guys have some laws that would let the participants have their own rooms for free?", asked Axel.

"Sir, I would have to talk to the manager about it."

"Then we will be waiting here.", said Frank trying to calm Axel.

They were led to the lobby where they were offered some drinks. Axel and Frank ordered some refreshments while Reesha went to talk to the manager.

###

Knock.. Knock.. Knockk…

"Come in."

Reesha entered the room.

"Oh Reesha. What is the issue? I am very busy here right now. Can you be fast on your question?"

"Sir, there is a boy here who claims that he is one of the participants in the tournament and he wants to book a room till the end of the tournament.", said Reesha.

"Really? What is his name? Kids these days say anything. You should not believe them.", said the manager.

"I know sir but if the kid is really speaking the truth, then it would increase our reputation if that kid reaches the quarter-finals.", said Reesha.

"That is good thinking Reesha. You might be sitting in my position in some years. So, what is his name?"

"Ahh, sir, I didn't ask for his name."

"Sigh, you still need experience. Let me see on the camera.", said the manager as he proceeded to see the camera footage of Axel and Frank.

The manager's face went from calm to excited to downright horror when he saw Axel and Frank. He smacked his hand on the table which scared Reesh and asked, "Don't you know who that is? Really?"

"No sir, I don't know."

"That is Axel Blaze. The successor of Samuel fucking Oak. How could you not know this? Being in the front office, you should know the faces and names of influential people. This is not acceptable."

"Sir, I just transferred here from the Hoenn region. So, I don't know much about him."

"Oh yes, I forgot. But do remember to learn the names and faces of these people. It might save you some time in the future. Give them 2 of the most lavish rooms and give them a 50% discount."

"Sir, a 50% discount would not even cover the cost of the hotel."

"And you think that I don't know about it. Just think of it as marketing cost. I did hear that Axel was going to participate in this tournament and now this is going to create big news. Our hotel's sales would increase by a huge margin. Hahaha, boss would be proud of me.", said the manager.

Reesha then went to the reception and proceeded to tell Axel and Frank that they were lucky and there were 2 rooms available. Reesha also focused on saying that since they are the participants of the tournament, they will be getting a 50% discount which made Axel happy.

Even though Axel was rich now, he still was from a middle-class family. Saving some money would always make him happy. Meanwhile, Frank didn't think much about it.

They were served some really tasty food and the room was also very nice. It was very big for a single guy. The hotel also had a place to feed their Pokemons. It was not one of the biggest hotels in the city. It was a medium-sized hotel but the hotel staff were doing everything to make Axel and Frank happy.

The manager was happy as this was the first participant that had come to their hotel and knowing the rumors of Axel's powers, the manager thought that Axel would at least reach the quarter-finals.

He would then market the hotel saying that Axel had stayed here and would garner a lot of attention in the city. The manager was thinking about the bonus that he would get after this.

Since the boys were already tired from the flight and searching the hotel, they had a hearty meal and then they went to sleep. Axel also asked if there were any training grounds in the city as some of his Pokemons preferred to train at night too.

"Yes sir. There is one in the city but since this is the time of the tournament, the training ground might be packed."

"I don't think there would be any Pokemons to train at night time.", said Axel.

"Let me check it and get back to you.", said the hotel staff and came with a positive response.

Axel then talked to training ground staff about it and he was stupefied about the price of the training ground. Since Angela had helped Axel in Violet City to lower the price of the usage of training grounds, it never crossed his mind that training grounds could be so expensive.

"Sir, I am using that during the night. I don't think you have any trainers here coming to train his Pokemons at night. So, why don't you lower the price.", proposed Axel.

After bargaining for some minutes, the price was lowered by 10%. The staff was very stingy. Axel booked the time for today and tomorrow.

The day after tomorrow would be the rest day and then would be the start of the tournament.

Axel personally went to the training ground and called out Pidgeot, Gogoat, Alakazam, and Shedinja. These were the ones that wanted to train at night. Since there were king-rank Pokemons that were going to train, Axel didn't need to personally be there. These were the standard rules of the training ground.

After arranging everything, Axel went to sleep.