Meltokio, the Imperial City, is the largest city and capital of Tethe'alla. It is the first city that the party enters upon entering Tethe'alla, and the second area they enter, after the Fooji Mountains. Meltokio is the home town of Zelos Wilder and the King of Tethe'alla.

Geography

Districts

The city is split into four districts:

• The Slums - The lowest area where the poorest people reside. Houses are made of clay and there is no street pavement. Most famous here is a lady who owns a flower shop.
• The Commoner's Quarter - The area at ground level where the commoners reside. The city entrance, the inn, the item shop and the elemental research centre are located in this district.
• The Middle District - The area where the arms shops and the coliseum are located, as well as the central square.
• The Upper District - The highest part of Meltokio where the Martel cathedral, the royal palace and the noble quarter are located.

Sewer system

Meltokio has a vast sewer system through which water, garbage and other wastes flow out of the city. The system houses a variety of animals, of which mice are the most populous. There are three doors that can be opened and locked with a certain wheel. Because not all wheels are accessable for normal sized people, the Sorcerer's Ring is used to diminish its user so he can walk on the small paths that lead to the wheels. There are panels on which the user can stand to return to his original size. Garbage is collected in huge machines that compress it into blocks that can easily be transported.

Coliseum

In the middle district of Meltokio there is a coliseum, an area where usually prisoners fight against beasts. Lately there have also been competitions in which warriors fight each other, like the "Mithos Cup". The colosseum is connected to the Meltokio prison, through which it is also connected to castle and the Martel cathedral. The first coliseum match Lloyd and his team fight is one to save Kate from execution. After receiving the "Derris Emblem", the colosseum becomes freely availble. When someone beats the advanced level of solo battles, he or she receives a champion title and a strong weapon.

History

Tales of Symphonia

The King of Tethe'alla resides in Meltokio. The party comes to Meltokio in order to give the King a letter from Sheena Fujibayashi, who has to leave to report the situation to Mizuho. When the party arrives, they also get a quick meeting with Rodyle, though they do not know who he is. When they get up to the upper district, they encounter Zelos and his groupies, and the groupies insult Colette for her strange clothes, describing her as being "dressed like an angel for a festival". Colette, not being able to respond because of her soulless state, is backed up by Lloyd Irving and Genis Sage. Zelos manages to calm them down before he begins flirting with Raine Sage and Colette. However, because Colette is in a self-defensive state, she uses her angelic strength and launches Zelos into the air. Since Zelos uses an Exsphere, he manages to land elegantly on the ground again. Afterward, he comments that she is a strong little angel, before he walks away with his groupies.

Later, when Lloyd and the others manage to meet the King and the Pope in the castle, they also meet Zelos there, and are shocked to know that he actually is Tethe'alla’s Chosen. With some complications, they manage to go freely around in Tethe'alla, though they need to have Zelos with them to keep tags on them. Because the Pope wants to take the throne and therefore wants to get rid of Zelos, he declares the group to be traitors. Therefore they are no longer able to enter Meltokio through the main gate. Zelos reveals the secret passage way he uses to sneak in and out of the city at night: the sewers. Here they meet Regal Bryant for the first time.

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World

Emil Castagnier, Marta Lualdi, Regal, and Sheena travel to Meltokio to find Glacies's core. They head to the shop and pass by Tokunaga, who just left the shop. Then they encounter the shopkeeper who says someone already bought Glacies's core but could not tell who bought it, for if that information was leaked, the wrong people could steal it from them. Regal suggests they depart to see the king, revealing to the group that he is a Tethe'allan duke.

As soon as they approach the palace, they encounter Alice, who sends out two monsters to fight the party. After they are defeated, Helion grabs Emil and starts to glow. Alice says she rigged Helion with a special collar that activates when he is defeated, and once it does the collar will self-destruct and destroy the monster. Marta, Regal and Sheena try to release Emil but to no avail. Tenebrae then takes control of Helion, forcing it to release Emil. He also flys as far away from the palace as possible. The collar then blows up, taking Helion and Tenebrae with it. Tenebrae's sacrifice of himself reminds Sheena of when Corrine sacrificed himself to save Sheena from Volt. Then Ventus and Ignis's cores merge with Emil and he quickly changes into his Ratatosk Mode. He then states that Tenebrae is resting in the Temple of Darkness and that they should go there. Regal leaves the party in order to find out who bought Glacies's core while Emil, Marta, and Sheena explore the temple to find Tenebrae's core.

After learning that Glacies's core was bought by Seles Wilder, Emil, Marta, Regal, Sheena and Tenebrae return to Meltokio to visit Zelos's manor and meet Sebastian. However their greeting is interupted as Tokunaga comes down with terrible news: Seles has been kidnapped by Lloyd. So the group splits up to look for him. Emil encounters Zelos again and informs him that Seles, his sister, has been kidnapped by Lloyd. Zelos does not belive Emil until he sees it with his own eyes, but still insists it is not Lloyd. They all return to the manor, where Marta explains everything. When Emil exclaims that Lloyd kidnapped Seles, Zelos pointed out two things: Lloyd would never kidnap Seles, and Lloyd would not reek of cologne. Emil then realizes that the "Lloyd" he saw take Seles had the same smell as Decus, causing Emil to realize the truth that it was Decus who caused the Blood Purge, and later went on a killing spree in Flanoir and kidnapped Seles, all while disguised as Lloyd.

They leave to inform the king about what happened and inform him that, if anything goes wrong, they should send the royal army. Emil apologizes to everyone about how he saw Lloyd as the bad guy, but Zelos reminds him apologies would not save Seles, before they depart for Cape Fortress. After Seles is rescued, she was immediately put to bed to rest. Emil suggests that the party go to the Temple of Earth, but Colette and Zelos part ways with the main group to try and find Lloyd.