Even from a distance, Floaroma City had its own, distinct charm..Compared to the compact, crowded impression of Jubilife City, Floaroma seemed to be much more spread out, with wider paths and an incredible amount of greenery between the buildings. Similarly, the fields around town were almost the same size as those around Jubilife, but the town itself was much smaller. Instead, it looked like the people of Floaroma were planting a wide range of berries in their fields and as we approached, we could even see a herd of cattle.

“This might be a nice town to settle down.” Claire observed, as we walked along the path towards the town proper. The air was filled with a colourful blend of scents and buzzing sounds, not the deep, threatening buzz of Bug-type Pokémon, but the soft, gentle buzzing of normal insects. It was relaxing and incredibly peaceful.

“Maybe for a little while.” I shook my head, “I think if I wanted to stay here for long, I’d go mad.” I added with a grin, just as the scents in the air tickled my nose, causing me to sneeze. “See? Visiting and looking at the sights is good enough for me.”

“You really don’t get along with plants.” Claire just laughed, not even trying to hide her amusement.

“We get along well enough, once they are kindling.” I grumbled, sticking out my tongue in response.

As it was only early afternoon, we could watch a couple farmers work the fields as we walked past and when we got to the gate, the guard only gave us a perfunctory glance, before welcoming us in. After getting directions to the Gym and Pokécentre, we continued on, planning to register at the Gym as soon as possible, just in case we had to wait for our task.

When we arrived at the Gym, I was briefly stunned by the design. Where the Sandgem-Gym had been a high tower and the Jubilife-Gym a solid, squat block, the Floaroma-Gym was a park. Or rather, the Gym was spread across multiple small buildings that sat within that park, with covered walkways connecting them. None of the buildings gave a really solid impression, looking more like comfortable garden-huts or greenhouses. A couple were even entirely open, making me wonder what they did in the winter. Compared to the solid, almost sombre, impressions given by the Gyms we had seen so far, the contrast was striking.

“The reception should be that over there.” I told Claire, looking at the plan. Claire was just as flabbergasted by the design as I was, as the building was one of the glass-houses, allowing us to easily see what was going on inside, it was just a little too whimsical for my tastes.

“Good afternoon and welcome to Floaroma Gym. How can I help you?” the receptionist asked, a polite smile on his face.

“Hello. We just came to town and would like to register for a Badge-Task. It will be our third badge.” I replied, showing him my badge-case and paperwork, with Claire echoing me.

“Certainly, that can be arranged. Do you already have accommodations??” he asked, after quickly jotting down the information from our cards. When we both shook our heads, he nodded.

“The Centre should still have some room, though with the festival next week, it might already be filling up.” he gently warned us.

“I see. We’ll try to get rooms there and if that fails, we’ll return to tell you where we are staying. But what festival are you talking about?” I asked, only for Claire to speak up.

“Oh, I know that one. Floaroma celebrates the Seedling Festival in the middle of spring. Steve told me about it.” she explained, her exuberance causing a grin to appear on the attendant’s face.

“Indeed. The Seedling Festival is all about colours, scents and sensual experiences. It lures many trainers to the area, both active and retired. Even some non-trainers make the journey together with more seasoned trainers for protection.” hearing that, a cold shiver ran down my spine and I gave a glance to Claire, who had a similar serious expression.

“In that case, we should report an encounter.” I cursed myself, for forgetting to prioritise it. “We came from Jubilife, and our task in Jubilife was to clear some fallen trees near a spring. That part wasn’t a problem, just a bit tedious, but afterwards, we travelled through the area commonly called Ravaged Paths.” I explained, getting a frown and nod in response.

“On the Ravaged Paths, we ran into a cauldron of Zubat, large enough to create debilitating sonic effects. We got caught and had to fight, but things got messy.” I admitted, and Claire took over.

“Dani protected me, but didn’t manage to fully protect herself. She and her partner managed to knock out the Zubat, I think they got all of them, but fainted themselves. Once my own mind returned to normal, I dragged her away.” she explained, the attendant now no longer frowning, but looking rather pale.

“That’s bad news. A cauldron of Zubat might actually drift to the official Route and there is little we can do.” he muttered, before reaching down, “Please, fill the report out as quickly as possible. I’ll put it onto the Gym-leader’s desk as soon as you are done.” he urged us, almost shooing us away.

“Claire, can you? My memory of the whole encounter is a little hazy.” I demurred. Claire nodded, quickly grabbing the form and moving to a nearby table.

“Anything else?” the attendant asked, as Claire was writing.

“Just confirmation that our Badge-task in Jubilife is completed, I guess.” I reminded him, getting a nod in return.

“Certainly, as soon as the report is finished.” he promised and I nodded in response, looking around to try finding out where the reference-books were stored.

“Could you direct me to the reading-area? The layout of this Gym is a little…” I asked, struggling with a good descriptor, before settling on a simple, “unique.” He just grinned, maybe at my question, maybe at the expression on my face.

“Certainly. The commonly used reference books are in that building over there.” he pointed to one of the solid buildings, “You can take them out, but we’d ask that you don’t take them out of the Gym-park.”

“Works for me.” I nodded in acceptance, before waiting for Claire to finish. It didn’t take her long ,the form wasn’t overly complex, and the attendant took a quick glance.

“Thank you. Your badge-cases, please?” he asked, quickly putting the stamp on the paperwork from Jubilife, making it obvious just how lax his earlier inspection had been.

“There you go. Now, I’ll deal with that.” he promised, before rushing off, leaving the counter unattended.

“Is that fine?” I quietly asked Claire, suddenly worried about the town. If the procedures at the local Gym were so lax, what would happen in an emergency like the one that had hit jubilife? Claire could only shrug and after a moment of contemplation, we decided to head to the Centre.

It was nearby, and almost as weird as the Gym. Instead of a single building, there was a small building in the centre of a flower-filled greenspace, with cottages set up around it. Heading in, we had to wait in line for a few minutes, before reaching the counter. After turning over our Pokémon, Claire insisted that I let myself get checked out, now that we were here. Apparently, she was worried that my experience with the Zubat had left some permanent damage.

The attendant looked a little worried when she heard about the encounter, asking me to remain nearby while she got the Nurse to take care of me. Before getting shooed off, I managed to ask for a pair of rooms. To my amusement, the attendant asked if we would terribly mind sharing a room, as singles were in high demand during the festival. Apparently, the festival was also a festival of physical intimacy, especially amongst the travelling trainers. A revelation causing Claire and me to blush a deep crimson, to the attendants amusement.

Finally, after taking the offered double-room, I was shooed off to the examination-room, while the attendant called the Nurse over.

The process was quite similar to the one I had undergone in the League, right after my arrival and soon, I was released with a mostly clean bill of health. The only issues were lingering exhaustion and my still slightly sore throat, both of which could be cured by some rest and relaxation. Which was what the town was all about, during the festival.