"Put your hands up!"
Huge speakers blasted a driving DJ beat as a curvy Black woman rapped with passion, drawing countless people and Pokémon to throw their hands up and sway.
Snow and ice blanketed the ground. Neon lights flashed.
The place was as lively as a music festival.
If you ignored the Pokémon Gym right next door.
This was Montenevera.
A quiet town built on the side of Glaseado Mountain, beside Glaseado Gym, it kept candles burning day and night to soothe the dead.
Ghost Pokémon were common here.
Drifloon drifted through the sky, while residents often kept Pokémon like Gastly and Shuppet at their sides.
Most numerous of all were little dogs with ghostly flames burning atop their heads.
They were called Fidough. Gentle and fond of people, they liked to hide in the snow and pretend to be candles, startling tourists now and then.
Then they used their adorably dopey looks to coax those same tourists into playing with them.
One thing was worth noting: they unconsciously drained people's vitality. Spending too long with untrained Fidough could leave someone listless and drained.
The reason so many ghosts gathered here was obvious.
Above Montenevera lay a Spirit World Entrance Baimu knew well. According to legend, everyone and every Pokémon who died in Paldea passed through it.
That was why the town frequently held festivals, large and small, to comfort the souls of the departed.
Interestingly, the current Gym Leader, Ryme, was a rapper—the very woman performing onstage. Her arrival had turned the festivals into music events.
In a sense, soothing the dead with music was a perfectly traditional approach.
But DJs and rap...
It felt like enough to make the dead throw off their coffin lids and start dancing along.
Still, the townspeople had no complaints, so the