Seeing Mentor Gaoshan leave, Xinhai, who had not seen Brawly, turned and walked toward the healing machine.
He placed the six Poké Balls into the slots one by one and pressed the start button.
The machine emitted a low hum as blue indicator lights lit up in sequence, showing that it was performing basic stamina recovery and treatment for the Pokémon inside the Poké Balls.
Xinhai sat in a nearby chair, leaned back against it, and stretched his legs slightly. He took out his Pokédex and checked the time—9:47 in the morning, a little later than he had expected to finish.
There was an unread message in the Pokédex's notification bar, sent by Brawly about half an hour ago: "Xinhai, it's too stuffy in the Gym, so I went surfing at the beach! You keep battling Mentor Gaoshan for now. I'll be back for lunch."
Looking at the message, Xinhai shook his head helplessly, though the corner of his mouth still curved upward. Brawly was still Brawly; his restless nature had not changed one bit.
He put the Pokédex into his pocket, leaned back in the chair, and closed his eyes to rest.
His mind automatically replayed every stage of the battle just now, from Sceptile's Sand Scale Fruit tactics, to Mightyena's positioning choices when facing Water and Fighting types, to the timing of Eevee's finishing Spiral Shadow Ball.
He broke down and marked every part one by one, storing them in his memory to review that night.
The healing machine gave a soft chime, and the blue indicator lights changed from blinking to steadily lit.
Xinhai opened his eyes, stood up, removed the six Poké Balls one by one and fastened them back onto his waist, then turned and headed down the corridor toward Independent Training Room Six.
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