The hotel stood exactly where the city couldn't decide.
Not left.
Not right.
Center.
The Axis Atrium rose from the plaza like a compromise made of glass and stone — its lower floors built from alternating pale marble and dark slate, its upper levels wrapped in transparent panels that reflected both halves of Divide City at once. By day, the building caught the glow of bioluminescent trees and the red-gold shimmer of shadowed vines alike. By night, it became a lantern suspended between worlds.
Cyrus stopped at the edge of the plaza and looked up.
"Well," he said quietly, "that feels intentional."
Ditto loosened from scarf form and shifted into a soft hood around his shoulders, peeking over one side like a curious blob.
The automatic doors slid open without a sound.
Inside, the temperature equalized instantly — not warm, not cold. The air smelled faintly of stone dust and ozone, like rain that hadn't decided whether to fall.
The atrium ceiling soared overhead, a circular dome split cleanly down the center. One half glowed with embedded crystal panels shaped like leaves and constellations. The other half was ribbed with dark metal arches etched with slow-moving ember glyphs.
Where the two halves met, light diffused.
Not clashing.
Blending.
The floor beneath Cyrus's boots was a mosaic — pale tiles and dark tiles arranged in spirals that converged beneath a central fountain. The water within it didn't splash or ripple. It hovered, suspended in a slow, gravity-defying loop.
Several Pokémon lingered around the space.
A Floette floated near the crystal side, petals glowing softly.
A Zorua sat half-hidden in the shadow of a column, eyes sharp and unblinking.
They noticed Cyrus at the same time.
The Floette tilted its head, curious.
The Zorua stiffened, ears flattening.
Then both looked at him like he was… complicated.
Cyrus shifted his bag higher on his shoulder.
"Yeah," he muttered. "I get that a lot."
The reception desk sat dead center beneath the dome. The attendant was human — but only just. Their eyes reflected light oddly, as if tuned to more than one spectrum.
"Welcome to the Axis Atrium," they said, voice calm and measured. "Neutral lodging. No alignment privileges enforced."
Cyrus placed his ID and badge case on the counter.
"No sides," he said.
The attendant nodded once. "We recommend that."
As the badge scanner passed over the Specter Badge, the fountain behind them pulsed faintly — once — then stilled.
The attendant didn't react.
But Ditto tensed.
Cyrus felt it then.
A pressure — not hostile, not curious.
Amused.
Hoopa didn't speak.
Instead, one of the floating lights in the atrium flickered, rotating lazily in place before settling back into its pattern.
Cyrus exhaled slowly.
"Room with a window," he said. "High floor."
"Of course."
The elevator doors opened silently.
As Cyrus stepped inside, his Pokéballs reacted again — but differently this time.
Gengar's ball vibrated once, then clicked open on its own.
Gengar emerged halfway, peering around with a grin that slowly faded into something more cautious.
"…Gen?" he murmured.
Ceruledge's ball stayed still.
Tyrunt's thumped eagerly.
Meltan's hum harmonized with the elevator's magnetic field.
The Ursaluna's ball stayed warm.
Present.
The doors closed.
The elevator rose.
Through the glass walls, Divide City unfolded beneath them — the glowing mushroom forests and pink grass stretching outward on one side, alive with fairy Pokémon flitting between branches. On the other, dark spired trees clawed at the skyline, vines glowing red and yellow like veins beneath bark, shadow-types watching from high perches.
And the line between them.
Straight.
Unforgiving.
Absolute.
Cyrus rested his hand against the glass.
"You didn't cause trouble back there," he said quietly.
A pause.
Then, sing-song and soft, drifting from nowhere:
"Didn't~"
Cyrus's reflection didn't smile.
"But you're here."
"Mm~."
The elevator chimed.
Their floor.
The hallway beyond was symmetrical, doors alternating light and dark wood, each marked only by a number — no symbols, no affiliation.
Cyrus unlocked his door and stepped inside.
The room was… simple.
Stone walls.
Neutral lighting.
A wide window facing straight down the dividing line of the city.
He dropped his bag and sat on the edge of the bed.
Ditto slid off his shoulders and pooled beside him, warm and solid.
Gengar drifted toward the window, pressing his face against the glass.
"…This place feels weird," he muttered.
"Yeah," Cyrus agreed. "That's the point."
Outside, the city breathed.
And somewhere in the space between both halves, something watched.
Patient.
Amused.
Waiting.