Background
The Kirstria region is based on Slovenia and Croatia, two balkan countries located in southern Europe. Slovenia and Croatia as states are very young, as previously they were part of Yugoslavia. Slovenia gained its independence in 1991 following the Ten-Day War. Croatia declared independence in 1991, but only gained its independence in 1995 as the Yugoslav military and Serbian militants kept fighting to control its territory. As such, the countries today are still characterized by their fight for independence and recent history. To make both Slovenia and especially Croatia fit on a simple rectangular pokémon-game map, I had to compress these countries heavily. I used some creative freedom to make this work, but you can still recognize certain real-life areas on the map based on their shape.
The Kirstria region
The Kirstria region is a union of two unnamed regions, historically comprised of two peoples: the 'mountain folk' and 'coast folk'. Not so long ago, they fought against a neighbouring region comprised of the 'forest folk'. It has been two decades since that war. Now the region is governed by six forces of nature:
- the vast woodlands,
- the scorching wildfires,
- the cold mountains,
- the deep caves,
- the blue ocean,
- and the bora wind.
The bora wind (bura/burja in Croatian/Slovenian) is an unignorable part of the Adriatic Sea's climate. It is a fierce and strong wind from the northeast which shapes all lands it touches. Many islands of the Adriatic are mountainous, and so you can see the northeastern side being more barren due to the strong bora wind, while the southwestern side tends to have more plantlife.
Dungeons
In the Kirstria region, remnants of old civilizations are practically on every hilltop. Some of these remnants come in the form of Dungeons: large, maze-like buildings and structures that have been overtaken by the local wildlife. In these Dungeons, you can find rare items and rare pokémon. More often than not you will traverse Dungeons with a partner trainer to fend off the barrage of wild pokémon and other Dungeon fanatics.
At the end of each Dungeon, you will be faced by a strong wild pokémon which is guaranteed to be shiny. While you cannot catch them in-battle, you will obtain them automatically after defeating them. These Dungeon Bosses also have a unique move that they otherwise cannot learn.
The Amfiton Colosseum
In Amfiton City, the historical colosseum has been renovated the house battle tournaments! Though less popular than the PWT in Unova, true battle fans know the Amfiton Colosseum has plenty of action as well. Here, you can partake in single, double, triple and multi-battles against a variety of opponents, from trainers you've battled throughout your journey to gym leaders! Of course, the main event that sets the Amfiton Colosseum apart from other battle facilities is the Biome Tournament. In this spectacle, the challengers have to fight each other as a permanent weather or terrain condition sweeps the stage, all culminating in a fight against one of the Colosseum Champions! Each of these Colosseum Champions specializes in the terrain you fight them in, and since it's permanent, you'll have to bring out your best battle skills to defeat them!
