With Tsareena unable to battle, the three-on-three Gym challenge ended in David's favour.
"Young trainers these days are something else." Amira shook her head slowly after recalling Tsareena, a quiet smile on her face. "When your mother talked you up to me, I thought she was exaggerating. Turns out she was actually holding back."
She had come into this match intending to test her nephew's limits — and had ended up losing cleanly despite the level advantage.
"Not at all, Aunt Amira. You're still incredibly strong. Honestly, this was the hardest Gym battle I've ever had."
David laughed, and he meant it. He had been around plenty of high-level trainers, but the ones he had actually battled were few. Today's match had been the most demanding of his life.
"Are you seriously comparing me — a Gym Leader — to ordinary professional trainers?"
Amira gave him a look somewhere between amused and exasperated. A Gym Leader's strength was simply not on the same scale as a regular trainer's, and this kid knew that perfectly well. "Alright, alright. It's still early, so I won't keep you for dinner. Here — this is yours."
She produced a badge and tossed it over.
David caught it and turned it over in his hand. It was the silver Intermediate Challenge badge, the same format as the ones he had received from the Blazing Sun Gym and the Adamant Gym — but the emblem here was a flower encircled by thorny vines. And in the lower right corner, there was a small colourful flower mark that the other two badges hadn't had.
Having grown up around a Gym, David recognised what that mark meant immediately. It indicated the badge had been personally awarded by the Gym Leader. Of his three badges, this Hundred Flowers Badge was by far the most significant.
"I'll get out of your hair then, Aunt Amira. Thank you!"
Shelgon and Lucario had both taken real damage, and Kirlia had taken a Trop Kick that wasn't nothing — the treatment room was the next stop.
"Off you go. And give my regards to your father and your mother."
"Will do!"
"That child…"
Amira watched his retreating figure and laughed quietly to herself.
After seeing to Lucario and the others in the Gym's treatment room and letting them rest until their stamina had recovered, David finally headed out, making his way toward the exit.
Still need to hurry — there are more Gym visits lined up, and the Hundred Flowers Gym is a rare Grass-type. I should take notes on what I've learned today…
"Scovillain~"
Just as David stepped outside, a figure rushed past him heading in, and the distinctive cry made him stop and look back.
The trainer was a young man, roughly David's age — nothing that stood out at first glance. But the Pokémon beside him was another matter entirely.
Two heads, one red and one green, sat atop a vivid green body. It was unmistakably a Scovillain — a Fire- and Grass-type Pokémon that had only emerged in the most recent generation of discoveries. Seeing one here was genuinely unexpected.
From the looks of it, the young man was here to challenge the Gym as well.
Level 30 Scovillain. Interesting.
A quick scan told David that this Scovillain had only recently crossed into the Superior rank. The trainer was clearly in the same situation as him — a young trainer making Gym rounds during the winter holidays. Among trainers their age, though, this was firmly first-tier strength.
David extended his Aura slightly and felt the Scovillain's vitality — stronger, even, than Josiah's Jangmo-o he had encountered back in the Dragon's Secret Realm.
He had a feeling they would cross paths again at the high school league.
With the Hundred Flowers Gym behind him, David's main business in Efo Province was wrapped up. He had roughly three days to spare before he needed to head to his maternal grandparents for the New Year — Chinese New Year's Eve was still seven days away, twelve days into the winter break.
The fourth and final Gym challenge he had planned would simply have to wait until after the holiday.
He didn't rush off. It had been mentioned that the Hundred Flowers Gym was more than just a Gym — it was also the largest flower cultivation ecological park in Cloud City. Around it had grown an entire cluster of related facilities: a perfume production park, a flower history museum, a plant trading market. The area had become one of the city's most popular tourist spots, and for good reason.
David and his companions had arrived after lunch and challenged the Gym straight away. The three battles plus recovery had taken no more than two or three hours, and the afternoon was still young.
He took the Ninetales and the rest of the team out to enjoy themselves properly — all except Shelgon, whose sheer size meant that more than a few places were simply inaccessible to it.
Not that Shelgon minded. After the intensity of the battle earlier, it had retreated into its Poké Ball without complaint and fallen immediately into a deep sleep.
David wasn't worried. Ever since evolving from Bagon, Shelgon had become noticeably more sedentary — a far cry from its Bagon days of scaling cliffs and hurling itself off ledges in pursuit of flight. But David understood what was happening. Shelgon was accumulating energy in preparation for its eventual evolution into Salamence. The rest was earned.
He left it to sleep and spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the area around the Hundred Flowers Gym with the others, picking up local specialties along the way — plant fossils, perfumes, and small scented sachets that made for easy gifts.
Despite saying he wouldn't stay for dinner, he somehow ended up at Amira's table that evening for a full meal. He returned to the hotel afterward, satisfied in more ways than one.
Over the following three days, David and his Pokémon took their time exploring Spring City. Only then did he set off, unhurried, toward his maternal grandparents' home.
Four days remained until the New Year.