David's Corviknight taxi pulled up outside the Hundred Flowers Gym not long after.
Compared to the Blazing Sun Gym and the Profound Gym he had challenged previously, this place was something else entirely. The Hundred Flowers Gym sat on the outskirts of the city, and its footprint dwarfed either of its predecessors. Spreading outward from the Gym building in every direction, for several tens of square kilometres, was an unbroken sea of flowers.
Spring City's climate was mild and steady — well-suited to flowering plants year-round. Beyond its status as an official League Gym, the Hundred Flowers Gym also functioned as the largest flower cultivation park and perfume production centre in the southwest region. The two roles had grown together over the years until it was hard to say where one ended and the other began.
David stood at the edge of the approach road and took it all in for a moment.
It reminds me of Erika's Celadon Gym back in Kanto, he thought. Though that was much smaller.
The sea of flowers stretched further than he could see from where he stood, but the densest part of it was concentrated in the suburbs. The walk from the city had not taken long, and the entrance to the Gym came into view without much delay.
He made a mental note as he walked: the Hundred Flowers Gym was also well-known as a source of Pokémon-specific perfumes and incenses. If he remembered correctly, the Exotic Incense that Kirlia used was produced here. Even if the quality did not quite reach the standard of what the system could provide, as everyday consumables they were perfectly good — and Kirlia and the others would appreciate them. He would pick some up before leaving.
I can bring back perfume as gifts while I'm at it.
Inside the Gym, David approached the front desk with the ease of someone who had already done this twice before.
"Hello — I made an online booking for an Intermediate Challenge, scheduled for this afternoon."
"Of course. Mr. David, is it?" The receptionist pulled up the reservation and began reviewing it. Then she paused. Her expression shifted — a small, quiet look of surprise that she did not quite manage to conceal. She glanced up from the screen, studied David's face carefully, and then looked back at the screen once more, as if confirming something.
"Is everything alright?" David asked.
"Yes — apologies. Mr. David \, your challenge has been accepted by our Gym Leader directly. Please proceed to the main battle arena at the far end of the building when you're ready."
David blinked.
The Gym Leader? For an Intermediate Challenge?
He had not expected that. Gym Leaders rarely stepped in personally for anything below an Advanced booking. He turned it over in his mind as he made his way deeper into the building, but could not find an obvious explanation.
The main battle arena was not what David had been expecting either.
Dense vegetation filled the space from floor to ceiling — tall forest trees, flowering undergrowth, climbing plants along every surface. The only parts of the room that were clearly meant for people were two narrow platforms extending out from the entry passages on either side, where the two Trainers would stand. There were no open spectator stands. A special barrier lined the perimeter at a distance, and anyone watching would have to do so from behind it. The stands were empty now.
It was less a battle arena and more an indoor ecological park — something like the specialised elemental fields used in the World Tournament, though considerably larger. Every surface was alive. The air was heavy with the smell of soil and green things.
This is practically paradise for Grass-type Pokémon, David thought, looking around as he walked the passage to his platform. The environmental bonus alone must be worth thirty percent.
He was nearly at his platform when he noticed that someone was already waiting on the other side.
A woman stood on the opposing platform, quite still. Her long black hair, smooth and dark, was loosely pinned back with a few jade hairpins. She wore a simple, well-fitted cheongsam — elegant without effort, the kind of look that did not announce itself. She seemed entirely at ease, as if she had been waiting for some time and did not mind at all.
David slowed his pace slightly.
He recognised the face. Vaguely. He had seen a photo on the Gym's official page before booking, but looking at her now, there was something beyond that — a familiarity he could not immediately place.
"You're Gym Leader Gianna of the Hundred Flowers Gym?" he asked, arriving at his platform. He was fairly sure it was her, but the feeling of recognition nagged at him.
The woman across from him looked him over carefully, unhurried. Then she smiled.
"Shouldn't you be calling me Auntie Gianna right now?"
David said nothing for a moment.
"It's only been a few years and Xiao Gianna doesn't even know my face anymore." She shook her head with the air of someone genuinely affronted, though the smile did not leave. "And I held you when you were little. That's rather heartbreaking, don't you think?"
The familiar tone, the way she said it — something clicked.
"Auntie Gianna." David said her name slowly, still processing. "You're the Gym Leader here. And we haven't seen each other in almost ten years, not just a few."
It came back to him properly now. She was a close friend of his parents — the kind who had been around since before he could remember much clearly. But when he was very young, she had left Imperial City due to circumstances he had never been told much about. He had been seven at most the last time he had seen her. Of course he had not recognised her on sight.
"Why are you here?" David asked. "And why did you take my challenge personally? Aren't Gym Leaders always busy?"
Gianna laughed. "Your parents suspected you might come through Spring City. Your father called ahead — said you had become quite strong this semester and asked me to give you a proper test." She paused. "Your mother also mentioned that your talent has already surpassed your father's at the same age." Her eyes were warm but appraising. "So. Let Auntie see for herself."
David pressed two fingers to his temple.
Of course. Of course he called ahead.
He made a quiet mental note: when he eventually became Champion, he was going to go straight back to the Ascending Dragon Gym and make the old man regret every last Poké Coin spent on battle fees.
Still. This changed things — in a more interesting direction.
The Hundred Flowers Gym sat among the top tier of Class-A Gyms in the Cloudspire region, and Gianna's strength matched it. She had been part of the so-called Golden Generation — the cohort that had produced some of the most talented Trainers the region had seen in decades. She had competed alongside David's parents in the World Pokémon Tournament that year, though her age had kept her in a substitute role at the time.
That was then. She was not a substitute now.
David closed his hand around the Poké Ball at his side.
"Understood. If this is still an Intermediate Challenge — then I look forward to your guidance, Auntie Gianna."