After lunch, Xinhai let his partners rest for half an hour before starting the afternoon's training.
He did not continue having Blaziken and Gardevoir practice Double Battle coordination. Instead, he had them each work on basic training.
Blaziken practiced punching in the strength training area, striking the specially made power gel again and again with dull thud, thud sounds.
Gardevoir sat cross-legged in the center of the field, her red eyes half-closed. Her Psychic Field enveloped the entire training room, providing subtle assistance to every Pokémon training within it.
Krookodile and Grovyle practiced battling on one side of the field, one attacking and one defending as they traded blows evenly.
Eevee led Charmander, Axew, and Weedle through obstacle runs in the speed training area. The four little ones weaved between the obstacle markers, growing faster and faster.
Mightyena and Zigzagoon, meanwhile, were doing endurance training, running continuously on treadmills in the gravity chamber, their breathing even and steady.
Xinhai stood in the middle of the field, his gaze sweeping over every Pokémon. From time to time, he called out a sentence or two to correct their movements and rhythm.
Time passed second by second.
At five in the afternoon, Xinhai ended the day's training, recalled his partners into their Poké Balls, and left the training center.
The setting sun dyed Mossdeep City's sky golden-red, and there were considerably more people on the streets than there had been that morning.
Xinhai followed the same route back to the Pokémon Center, completed a few procedures at the front desk, and returned to his room.
He took a shower, changed into clean clothes, then sat at his desk, opened his laptop, and continued studying battle videos from Mossdeep Gym.
Outside the window, the sky gradually darkened. Streetlights came on one after another, illuminating