Watching Charmander and Axew with their sparkling eyes, Xinhai smiled and shook his head. He picked up two more pieces of beef and handed one to each of them.
"That's the last of it. No more."
The two little ones took the beef and chewed contentedly.
Blaziken had already finished eating and was resting against the tree trunk with its eyes closed.
Hearing the commotion, it cracked its blue eyes open and glanced at Xinhai, who was surrounded by the three little ones. The corner of its mouth lifted slightly before it closed its eyes again.
Gardevoir floated to Xinhai's side, its red eyes curving slightly as it used Confusion to gently place Xinhai's empty Nutritious Meal box into the nearby garbage bag.
Grovyle lowered its head to look at its completely empty food bowl, then looked up at Xinhai and the other companions. After hesitating briefly, it stood and gently pushed its bowl to Xinhai's feet with a claw.
"Cha." (I'm done eating.)
Xinhai looked down at the little bowl—it was spotless, without even a trace of honey left.
"Are you full?" he asked.
"Cha!" Grovyle nodded vigorously.
Xinhai smiled, put the food bowl into the garbage bag, then took out a tissue from his backpack and handed it to Grovyle. "Wipe your mouth."
Grovyle froze for a moment. It first licked the honey and food crumbs from the corners of its mouth, then wiped them with the tissue.
"Cha..." (Thank you.)
It tossed the used tissue into the garbage bag and watched Xinhai wipe Eevee's mouth, a faint smile appearing on its face.
Seeing that Zigzagoon, Krokorok, and the others had finished eating too, Xinhai did not immediately return them to their Poké Balls. Instead, he wiped every companion's mouth.
Then he stretched, leaned against the tree trunk