The passenger ship slowly sailed out of the port, leaving a white trail on the sea, gradually heading towards the southeast sea level.
He waved at the ship that was going away. He didn't look back until the passenger ship turned into a small dot in his field of vision, turned around and walked in the direction of the Slateport City area.
"Bu Yi." Eevee called softly on his shoulder.
"Well, it's our turn next." Xinhai reached out and rubbed the base of its ears, "Go to Pokémon Center to settle down, and then start the last period of special training."
When Pokémon Center came to a room, Xinhai placed Spatial Backpack on the sofa in the room, took off Poké Ball from his waist and released them one by one.
Red lights flashed one after another, and the friends spread out in the area between the living room and the bedroom, each looking around at the new environment.
"In the next ten days," Xinhai stood in the center of the living room, looking at his friends, "We will not engage in the high-intensity battles and special training we had before."
"Buy?" (Then what do we do?)
Eevee squatted on the coffee table and tilted his head, blinking his big brown eyes.
"Check and fill in the gaps." Xinhai took out the notebook full of records from Spatial Backpack and looked at his friends around him and said.
"In the past few months, I have recorded every Gym's special training and the problems exposed in every battle here. In the next ten days, we will go over them one by one."
He turned to the first page, which contained dense records of each partner's performance and shortcomings in each battle during the period from Rustboro Gym to Sootopolis Gym.
"Let me talk about the training framework for these ten days first." Xinhai spread the notebook on his knees and tapped the paper with the tip of his pen.
"First of all, we need to test all your current ability indicators - attack, defense, speed, skill release accuracy, energy conversion efficiency, sustained combat capability. I will make a list for each partner based on the results, which aspects are qualified and which aspects are still poor."
Eevee jumped on his lap, squatted down and looked at the dense words on the notebook, his tail gently brushing Xinhai's wrist.
"Then it's about making up for the shortcomings." Xinhai turned to the next page, which already had a preliminary list of test items, "Ignore the qualified items, and focus on practicing the unqualified ones during this period."
"Qiamo." Blaziken walked over from the window, glanced at the contents of the notebook with his blue eyes, and nodded.
"Roar." Charizard responded in a low voice from the corner, and the flames on its tail jumped, indicating that it was just a test and it would be too simple.
Xinhai glanced at it and smiled, "Charizard, don't think the test is simple. The qualification line I set is not low."
He poked the paper with the tip of his pen, "Take you for example - airflow sensing. My requirement is to complete a complete set of maneuvers under wind speed of level 8, without deviating from the planned trajectory by more than one meter. Can you do it now?"
Charizard was silent for a moment, retracted his wings slightly, and said no more.
"So, don't worry." Xinhai closed the notebook and stood up, "Everyone has a good rest today and the first round of testing will begin tomorrow morning."
Ten days is neither long nor short.
Xinhai has reduced the amount of training and only practices for half a day every day. During the rest of the time, he takes his friends for a walk around Slateport City to relax.
They went to the port area to watch the fishing boats unloading, to Wetland Park in the south of the city to watch Wild Pokémon, and also had a seafood dinner at a time-honored restaurant in the city - that meal Eevee made their stomachs full, and they lay in Xinhai's arms on the way back until they Belch.
On the morning of departure, Xinhai checked out at Pokémon Center, packed up Spatial Backpack, and took all his partners to the flight Pokémon takeoff area on the north side of Slateport City.
The weather on this day was very good, with clear skies and extremely high visibility.
Xinhai released Charizard, turned over and sat on its back, and Eevee skillfully got into the pocket on his chest.
"Ever Grande City, let's go."
Charizard Dual Wingbeat jumped up into the air.
The silhouette of Slateport City quickly Minimize in the field of vision, the white sailboats in the port area, the rows of palm trees in the urban area, the long coastline in the distance - everything was left behind in a few minutes.
Charizard adjusted its direction and flew towards the east at full speed.
The sea breeze blows from the front, bringing with it the salty and humid breath and the warmth in Morning Sun.
Eevee poked half of his head out of his pocket, his big brown eyes looking at the rapidly receding sea below, and his tail gently swept around the edge of the pocket.
After flying for most of a day, a huge island outline appeared on the sea ahead.
That island is larger than the volcanic island where Sootopolis City is located, and its terrain is flatter. From the air, it looks like an oval green leaf spread on the sea.
There is a sizable city on the southeast side of the island. White and light blue buildings spread out along the coastline. The port area is filled with ships of all sizes. Several main roads extend inland from the port. The colorful flags on both sides of the road connect into a flowing ribbon in the sun.
Ever Grande City.
Xinhai looked down at the increasingly clear island and took a deep breath.
Charizard also seemed to feel the change in the trainer's mood. The rhythm of its wings beating was more steady and powerful than usual, and the flames on its tail danced brightly and steadily in the sea breeze.
"Charizard, landed at the public landing area on the north side of the island." Xinhai patted its neck.
"Roar!!"
Charizard folded its wings slightly, tilted its body and slid downwards.
The four-meter-tall body landed firmly on the ground in the center of the landing area, and only a small circle of dust was raised when the feet hit the ground.
Xinhai turned over, took it back to Poké Ball, filled in the information at the registration desk at the landing area, then took out the folding bicycle and rode towards the city.
The streets of Ever Grande City are wider than those of Slateport City. The buildings on both sides of the road are mainly white and light blue. There are flower pots on the windowsills of every house, and beautiful flowers are blooming in the sunshine.
There are many pedestrians on the road, including local residents and many trainers with Pokémon. Judging from their attire and expressions, most of them are here to participate in Ever Grande Conference.
Xinhai rode through several streets and saw the outline of a huge arena in the distance.
It was a circular open-air venue, with a white dome that glowed softly in the sunlight. The surface of the dome was made up of countless curved plates, like a carefully woven giant net covering the top of the building.
There are several tall flagpoles erected around the venue, with colorful flags flapping in the wind, embroidered with the logo of Pokémon League and eight Badge of Hoenn League.
At the bottom of the stadium's facade is a wide circle of steps. On both sides of the steps are neatly trimmed shrubs and patches of flowers, red, yellow, and purple, which are dazzling in the sun.
From a distance, the arena looks like a huge shell placed in the middle of the city, quietly waiting for a bustle to break out inside.