Sootopolis City

Sootopolis City (Japanese:  Rune City) is a city located to the east of the Hoenn mainland.

Sootopolis City plays a major part in the games, as it is the location where the player has their encounter with the Legendary Pokémon or, and obtain their final Badge.

Sootopolis City has a fantastic nighttime view, with stars peering in through the top of the crater.

In the Pokémon games, Sootopolis City can only be reached by diving through, or by ing or soaring. Sootopolis is surrounded by.

Slogan
The mystical city where history slumbers. (Japanese:  The mystical city where history slumbers.)

History
Sootopolis City is located inside of a giant crater.

In, the crater is that of an underwater volcano which erupted and forced itself out of the sea many years ago, eventually filling with rainwater.

In, the crater was formed by a giant meteorite impact into the ocean of the Hoenn region a thousand years ago, eventually filling with rainwater. People soon began to dwell in the crater for its warm, fresh water and a city soon came forth. The great tree in front of the Cave of Origin was received from AZ when he visited from the Kalos region.

To navigate the city, people have to climb many flights of stairs and under the sea. This causes many of the locals to get into good shape.

Delta Episode
During the Delta Episode, after has informed Wallace of the plan to enter the Sky Pillar, Wallace is outside the Cave of Origin talking to the guard about the great tree. He invites the player to follow him to the Sky Pillar's entrance on, then leaves.

Cave of Origin
The Cave of Origin is located in Sootopolis City. Inside, the player can meet either, , or Wallace wondering about 's whereabouts.

Competitive brothers
In the house northeast of the Pokémon Center, there are two brothers who are arguing over two different species of Pokémon. The younger brother is a, while the older brother is a.

In Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, they are arguing over the sizes of their favorite Pokémon. If a brother is shown a Pokémon of the species he prefers, he will calculate its size and give the player an Elixir if it is bigger than the largest one he had seen before.

In Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, they are arguing over the cuteness of their favorite Pokémon. If a brother is shown a Pokémon of the species he prefers with an Affection of at least level 4, he will give the player a Max Elixir. Unlike the Generation III games, each brother will only give an item once.

In Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, Omega Ruby, and Alpha Sapphire, the younger brother prefers and the older brother prefers. In Pokémon Emerald, the younger brother prefers and the older brother prefers, and the initial record size is 0.5 meters.

Sootopolis Gym
In Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, Omega Ruby, and Alpha Sapphire, Wallace is the Gym Leader in this city. He uses Pokémon, and is the one who hands out the.

In Pokémon Emerald, Wallace is the former Gym Leader, with his former mentor Juan resuming the role due to Wallace moving on to become.

Move Tutor
In, inside the Pokémon Center there is a trainer who will teach a compatible Pokémon one time only.

In Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, in the north-eastern part of Sootopolis City there is a house with an elderly gentleman within it. If the player talks to him with a Pokémon with high friendship, he will offer to teach it.

Backdoor house
In Pokémon Emerald, the house with a back door which hosts e-Reader battles is southeast of the Pokémon Center. Its original location in Mossdeep City in Ruby and Sapphire was superseded by a Game Corner.

Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire
In, the population of Sootopolis City is 39. This is a middling population in Hoenn, despite its near isolation from the rest of the region.

Pokémon Emerald
In Pokémon Emerald, the population of Sootopolis City is 43.

Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire
In Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, Sootopolis City has a total population of 42.

Berries from Kiri
Kiri will give the player two Berries each day. Kiri is not present while / is causing abnormal weather in Sootopolis City. She will not give out Berries while and  battle, or immediately after  appears.

Generation III
No surfing Pokémon can appear during the battle between and.

In the anime
In the, the volcano Sootopolis City is built upon opens up at one side, giving access to. After leaving Izabe Island, and  arrived in Sootopolis City in The Great Eight Fate!. Ash was planning to challenge the local Gym Leader to a in order to obtain his eighth Gym Badge, which would qualify him to compete in the Hoenn League.

Upon arriving,, Max, and saw fireworks and realized an event was being held in the city, so they ran to join the attendees. It was soon revealed that the Mayor of Sootopolis City was inaugurating a water-themed theater and that Juan, the Leader of the Sootopolis Gym, would put on a show with his  as part of the festivities. May was amazed at how beautifully Juan's Pokémon took the stage and Brock commented on how they had been well-raised. Throughout Juan's presentation, May was even more impressed and said Juan could be a great Pokémon Coordinator.

was also impressed by Juan and they decided to steal his Pokémon, but Juan managed to send them blasting off with minimum effort. After that, Ash approached Juan saying he would like to have a battle with him, and once Juan agreed, the group was taken to the Gym on a boat. While on their way to the Sootopolis Gym, the group discovered that Juan is a former winner of the Grand Festival, having received the Ribbon Cup and the title of Top Coordinator years ago. They also learned why he specializes in Water-type Pokémon.

When they got to the Gym, they were greeted by, Juan's butler and assistant, who explained to Ash the rules of the Sootopolis Gym. The Gym battle is divided into four rounds; the first is a Double Battle held in a large swimming pool with floating platforms and the other three are Single Battles conducted in a battlefield resembling a lake surrounded by land. Ash won the battle in Eight Ain't Enough!, earning the, his eighth Hoenn Badge overall, which allowed him to compete in the Ever Grande Conference. After that the group left for Pacifidlog Town, site of an upcoming Pokémon Contest which May wanted to enter in order to obtain her fifth Ribbon.

In the Pokémon Adventures manga
Sootopolis City was first mentioned in Stick This in Your Craw, Crawdaunt I, where Mr. Briney mentioned how his, Whisko, had sensed multiple earthquakes happening in Sootopolis.

After Maxie awakened and  at the Seafloor Cavern, the two Legendary Pokémon eventually came face to face in Sootopolis City, where they began a fierce battle with each other. In order to prevent the immense energy resulted by the battle from going out of control, and the Elite Four used the  to contain the energy in Sootopolis City. Due to the containment field created by the titans covering the city everywhere above it, the excess energy from the battle was forced downwards, causing the entire city to rise into the air. Eventually, the battle was stopped by and, bringing the city back down to its proper place.

Sootopolis City reappeared in the, where Zinnia was taken there after Rayquaza rejected her offer to join her in order to destroy the meteoroid headed for Hoenn. Upon 's request, Zinnia agreed to work alongside the Stones, Joseph and Steven, for a solution to avert the impending apocalypse. Eventually a plan was devised, which involved the Hoenn Gym Leaders, Elite Four, and Frontier Brains, as well as the Draconids,, and , all standing by at Sootopolis to launch a combined attack towards the meteoroid, while Ruby and would ride Rayquaza into space to strike the meteoroid directly. The plan was executed successfully, saving the Hoenn region from yet another disaster.

Trivia

 * Kiri was named after Junichi Masuda's daughter, born right before the Japanese release of.
 * In the flower patch next to the big tree AZ gave, there is a flower in the patch that is the same design as the flower on the Eternal Flower, the Floette that befriended AZ in the storyline.
 * This is the only city in the Pokémon world which requires the use of in order to be reached for the first time.
 * There is on one of the rocks in.
 * In, the received from Kobe at Rustboro City is exactly 0.01 meters larger than the size requirement for the Elixir.
 * In, the initial record holder's Trainer is named Marco. This is an anagram to , a Greek prefix that means large.

Origin
Sootopolis City appears to be based on the  of, also known as Thera.