The train station in Belon City sat on the side of the city that faced the sea, and the Azure Wave Gym — true to its name — was built right along the waterfront. The distance between the two was short enough that David and Zorua covered it on foot without much trouble.
Since this had been a last-minute trip, David hadn't brought any luggage worth mentioning. There was no reason to stop at the hotel first.
Along the way, the festival preparations were hard to miss. Closer to the shoreline especially, temporary tents and vendor stalls had been erected across the beach, and the main stage was already fully assembled. In a day's time, it would host a Water Pokémon Showcase and a market of festival merchants.
The main venue for the Sea God's Festival, naturally, was the beach itself.
From the travel guide David had skimmed on the train that morning, he'd learned that the venue sat right next to the Azure Wave Gym — close enough that the Gym could respond quickly if anything went wrong. With a festival of this scale, the city's League officials had almost certainly been coordinating for days to make sure everything ran smoothly. The Gym Leader herself had probably been pulled back to oversee things. Any major incident with mass casualties at an event like this would be a serious matter.
Tomorrow morning, the opening ceremony — a traditional offering to the Sea God, Lugia — would take place on the beach. After that, three days of celebration would follow. The schedule was packed: official Pokémon battles organized by Belon City, sea races, fishing competitions, Surf tournaments, and more. Every evening, fireworks and Pokémon Showcase performances would light up the main stage.
"Sounds like a lot of fun," David said aloud.
"Zorua~" Zorua agreed from her spot on his shoulder.
"Once we're done with the Gym, we can enjoy the whole thing properly. After we head back, school starts — and after that, it'll be months before we get a break like this again."
"Zorua~!"
The two of them made their way down the beach path toward the Azure Wave Gym. It came into view soon enough — and David slowed his pace slightly, taking it in.
It looked less like a Gym and more like a performance venue. The whole structure had been designed with clear artistic intent, and the exterior was clad in specially chosen blue glass that caught the afternoon sun and scattered it in shifting shades of azure, like the face of a giant gemstone.
Something clicked in David's memory.
The Azure Wave Gym was a Class One Gym, yes, but it was arguably better known across the region for its aquatic Pokémon Showcases. The Gym Leader, if he recalled correctly, was a Showcase Master in her own right — renowned for her aquatic waltz routines. The Gym also served as one of the official Showcase venues where Ribbons were awarded.
Similar setup to the Cerulean Gym in a sense, he thought. But the strength is in a completely different league.
The Cerulean Gym, in the anime at least, had been an embarrassment. The three sisters there had never taken their role as Gym Leaders seriously — their battle records were poor, their attitude was casual, and David was fairly certain they had handed out Cascade Badges without requiring a proper match on more than one occasion. How the Kanto League had let that slide for so long baffled him. The Cerulean Gym was supposed to be one of the eight official Gyms representing the Kanto League. Without Misty holding things together, the place would have fallen apart entirely.
He remembered, too, that Kanto had more Gyms than the eight Ash had challenged — in Saffron City, there had apparently once been a Fighting-type Gym, before a young Sabrina had fought its leader into retirement. The Kanto League's approach to Gym oversight seemed lax by any standard.
None of that applied here, though. First-class Gyms in the Cloudspire League were held to a strict standard, and the League's review process was not forgiving. If any Gym tried to conduct itself the way the Cerulean sisters had in the anime, it would be stripped of its classification immediately — and that went for special-class Gyms too, not just Class One.
Gym Leader is probably more like Wallace, David thought. Someone who treats Showcases and battles as equally important.
Wallace had been the Gym Leader of the Sootopolis Gym in Hoenn before Steven — who had apparently spent half his career digging up rocks — pushed him into the Champion position. Like Gym Leader, Wallace was a celebrated Coordinator and a specialist in Water-type Pokémon. The parallel felt right.
By the time David had finished thinking, he was already inside the Gym.
He showed his online battle reservation to the staff at the reception desk. The challenge tier was intermediate — but this time, there would be no Gym Leader waiting across the field. A staff member guided him through the building to Battle Arena No. 7.
"This place doesn't leave many options for challengers," David said quietly, surveying the arena.
The venue was a vast indoor pool — roughly the size of four or five standard competition pools combined. In the center, a raised water platform stretched across several dozen square meters. Around it, smaller floating boards drifted on the surface, each barely large enough for a smaller Pokémon to stand on. Beyond those boards, there was nothing but water in every direction.
David could see immediately why the layout was such a constraint. Large Pokémon were essentially ruled out from the start — if he released Shelgon here, the platform would likely buckle before the battle even began. And as for moves: Earthquake was useless, Frenzy Plant had nowhere to root, Fire Spin would dissipate over open water. The arena was designed to neutralize a wide range of strategies before a single command was given.
After a short wait, his opponent entered the arena. She was a young woman in her twenties, composed and clearly experienced. That wasn't unexpected — Water-type specialists tended to skew toward female Trainers, and the Azure Wave Gym's reputation for Showcase performance made it even more so.
The two of them didn't know each other, so there was no reason for extended pleasantries.
The Rotom Referee's prompt chimed across the arena.
The battle began.