Caldera is located in the Western Desert, midway up a towering mountainside. The city's walls are smaller than Union's and appear to be made of raw iron that was formed instead of forged around the city. The buildings are rough-hewn from stone and steel. Although it is about the size of Union it lacks the tall towers that Union has, so it has a smaller population of around 200,000 people.[Ref] There are caverns beneath the mountain that Caldera is built upon.[Ref] Within those caverns is a lake of lava[Ref] with a small shrine in oddly good condition on an island in the middle, connected to the shore by a land bridge. At the time of its discovery by Haruka(actsmagnificent), Hotaru (threemoms), Michiru (incousinswithyou), and Usagi (inthenameofthemoon) it contained shards of some sort of broken machinery, a Technical Machine, and some scrolls written in old script.[Ref] The shrine is guarded by a shiny Arcanine[Ref] that can speak telepathically and refers to the shrine as belonging to his master,[Ref] "the lord of this domain, the master of earth and the bringer of flame and destruction. He rules this land, and abides yet to mete out suitable punishment should the arrogance of humans again come to bear."[Ref] He demanded that something of value be tributed in exchange for the Technical Machine and the scrolls,[Ref] thus there is now a "limited edition one-of-a-kind artisan Caldera lamp",[Ref] the sword of one of Gigas's soldiers,[Ref] a Prism Scale necklace,[Ref] and a pair of "simple, but eye-catching and well-worn and well cared for" earrings in a small box[Ref] left at the shrine.
Caldera's forces are divided into three groups: the Battalion of Steel, the Rock Legion, and the Earthkin. The Battalion of Steel is Caldera's crack troops, consisting of several hundred trained gunmen and swordsmen. The Rock Legion is the volunteer citizen's levy, not as highly trained as the Battalion of Steel but not weak either. The Earthkin are few in number but very strong, wielding the power of earth, steel, and flame; they are what Caldera calls Enlightened.[Ref]
Caldera doesn't use technology to aid in bonding with Pokémon, instead they "gain allies with our hearts and our fists."[Ref] As few of them can speak with or understand Pokémon, this is accomplished by simply talking to or fighting with Pokémon.[Ref] Their word for "bonded" is "aligned".[Ref]
Prior to Gigas's military action against them, there had always been tension with Gigas[Ref], but there had still been limited trade between the two cities, as Caldera's steelcraft is apparently highly valued in Gigas.[Ref] Caldera appears to value its steel highly and while they will sell it or give it if the cause is just, they refuse to surrender it and are willing to kill anyone who tries to take it from them.[Ref]
According to legend, Caldera was built by the survivors of another city that once stood where Caldera does now. The previous city is said to have been destroyed by a red giant that rose out of the mountain. The red giant is not worshiped.[Ref] The Earthkin are said to have come from that time; when the Red Giant rose, there were special humans who could bend the earth to their will who protected the other humans. As the name implies most of the first Earthkin were Ground-type, but since then have evolved into other types.[Ref] The Red Giant is said to have been Ground-type.[Ref]
Gigas's name for the location is "Deathfire Mountain".[Ref]
General Info
Caldera's forces are divided into three groups: the Battalion of Steel, the Rock Legion, and the Earthkin. The Battalion of Steel is Caldera's crack troops, consisting of several hundred trained gunmen and swordsmen. The Rock Legion is the volunteer citizen's levy, not as highly trained as the Battalion of Steel but not weak either. The Earthkin are few in number but very strong, wielding the power of earth, steel, and flame; they are what Caldera calls Enlightened.[Ref]
Caldera doesn't use technology to aid in bonding with Pokémon, instead they "gain allies with our hearts and our fists."[Ref] As few of them can speak with or understand Pokémon, this is accomplished by simply talking to or fighting with Pokémon.[Ref] Their word for "bonded" is "aligned".[Ref]
Prior to Gigas's military action against them, there had always been tension with Gigas[Ref], but there had still been limited trade between the two cities, as Caldera's steelcraft is apparently highly valued in Gigas.[Ref] Caldera appears to value its steel highly and while they will sell it or give it if the cause is just, they refuse to surrender it and are willing to kill anyone who tries to take it from them.[Ref]
According to legend, Caldera was built by the survivors of another city that once stood where Caldera does now. The previous city is said to have been destroyed by a red giant that rose out of the mountain. The red giant is not worshiped.[Ref] The Earthkin are said to have come from that time; when the Red Giant rose, there were special humans who could bend the earth to their will who protected the other humans. As the name implies most of the first Earthkin were Ground-type, but since then have evolved into other types.[Ref] The Red Giant is said to have been Ground-type.[Ref]
Gigas's name for the location is "Deathfire Mountain".[Ref]
The demonym of Caldera is "Calderan".[Ref]