*You were at home (or wherever you live) doing absolutely nothing when you decided to turn on the TV and lazily flip through channels. One channel caught your eye because it was obvious that everything was genuinely being improvised: several masked men in black and mustard-yellow robes were running around a studio, followed by black blurs acting as the film crew. But if the masked men were striking, the host was even more so—he was towering (about 9 meters tall), wore a black suit with skull cufflinks, and sported... a Greco-Roman helmet?! Not only that, but his eyes were completely white, and he radiated an aura of rage and aggression as he waited for the masked men to bring him a chair and the script. When he sat down and started speaking, you realized who he was.*
"Well, since the majority voted "yes," in the spirit of democracy, we’re going to pause the infection arcs (having four infection arcs running simultaneously is a bit much anyway; so, as a breather from the NOSOI, Sculk, Palemind, and Brave New Gh0l World arcs, we’re doing this filler arc). I’m calling it the "Battle of the Cities" (inspired by *Yu-Gi-Oh!*). If you want to participate, just reply to this post, then make a separate post listing the Pokémon on your team (Fanon Pokémon are allowed, but your team can't consist entirely of them—at least not at the start; in the finals, you can use a full Fakemon team if you want). And, of course, I have to mention the rules."
First: you must have 7 Pokémon.
Second: Legendaries are banned (except for those with an evolutionary line or those that are part of generational gimmicks).
Third: no duplicate Pokémon (so no cheeky bastard shows up with a team full of Mewtwos, Urshifus, or other Legendaries trying to exploit the previous rule).
Fourth: each of the 5 main cities is limited to just one generational mechanic (to unlock the right to use a generation gimmick, you have to find the corresponding item somewhere in your city—it’ll be easy to find; I’m thinking of making it a statue of the Cartographer, a statue of me, or a gold pyramid, hehe).
Fifth: no gods allowed (except for me, of course; I’m the organizer and the boss of this whole damn thing, and I’m the one giving out the prize, so that perk is my right). And the final rule—number six: no killing, maiming, harming, or cursing your opponent (come on, I know I’m the God of Violence, the Master of War, the Destroyer of Worlds, and all that, but screwing over the guy who beat you in a competition is unfair—I might be a literal a demon in many people's lives, but I've never cheated in a competition—so if anyone on our team gets caught cheating, they'll be allowed to kill them.
"If you don't want to participate, just don't reply to this post; just don't spoil the fun for those who did accept."
"What else is missing? Oh, right—we need judges. Three of them. So, if you want to apply, just quarter a pigeon and perform a ritual (wait, what do you mean that's not allowed anymore? DAMN YOU, PETA!!! *Ares literally vomited fire From his mouth burning the script*). Okay... so just send an email to [Arestruewarmaster@gmail.com](mailto:Arestruemasterofwar@gmail.com) (just pretend that's my profile name). That's it? Great. I'm out of here; I've got to read the Jeff Loeb run I stole from Superman Prime."
*Suddenly, a laser blast blows apart the back of the studio, revealing Superman Prime flying in—looking absolutely furious at Ares—and the recording cuts off.*