Alto Mare stood on an isolated island, surrounded by the vast sea. Within a radius of 150 nautical miles, there were no other islands apart from one tiny uninhabited island.
Because the city's waterways and canals crisscrossed in a complex network, its transportation consisted mainly of various small boats, much like Venice, the water city on Earth.
Or rather, this city had been created with Venice as its model.
Leaving the docks, Xia You, Erika, and Ash's group of three strolled through the enormous city.
Before leaving the shore, however, they also saw a museum and two stone pillars commemorating Latias and Latios.
This brought home to them that, perhaps just as Xia You had said, legends really were right beside them!
Unable to wait, Ash had pulled them straight toward the registration desk for the Pokémon water race as soon as they stepped off the boat. Along the way, they saw shallow, narrow canals everywhere, their waters crystal clear, with speedboats passing through from time to time. Both sides of the streets were lined with brightly colored, European-style period buildings adorned with exquisite wall carvings.
"This city really is beautiful. No wonder it dares to call itself the most beautiful in the world!"
Misty looked this way and that. As a Water-type Pokémon Trainer, she clearly liked this place very much.
Xia You held a different opinion on that, though. All he could say was that everyone had different tastes. He admitted that this city certainly had its own distinctive character, but plenty of other cities in this world were every bit its equal.
Nimbasa City in Unova, Lumiose City in the Kalos Region, and Wyndon in the Galar Region, for instance, were all refreshing and impressive places.
The race's registration desk was inside the city's arena. With just