Walking along Pokémon Center towards the port, after a while we arrived in front of a hotel.
There were two familiar figures standing at the door of the hotel. Mother Nami and Dad Yantai were wearing common travel casual clothes and waving to Xinhai.
Seeing this, Xinhai walked over quickly. "Mom, Dad, have you been waiting for a long time?"
"Not long ago, we just arrived." Mom Nami looked him up and down, then stretched out her hand to turn his collar, "The collar of this dress is crooked, and I don't know how to straighten it when I go out."
Hearing this, Xinhai laughed helplessly, stood and let her straighten her collar.
Dad Yantai coughed next to him and winked at Xinhai, which clearly meant: Don't compete with your mother, just follow her.
Then he patted Xinhai on the shoulder. "Let's find a place to eat first, and it will get dark after a while."
"Okay, there is a seafood street walking towards the port. I checked the map before and it takes about ten minutes to walk." Xinhai turned sideways and walked towards the port with his parents.
Ten minutes later, a street filled with various fragrances appeared in front of you.
Both sides of the street are crowded with large and small restaurants, some grilling fish, making seafood porridge, and selling squid. Tourists sit around eating and chatting. The clinking of cups and glasses are mixed with the chatter and laughter, making it very lively.
Xinhai chose a restaurant that didn't have too many customers but looked clean and tidy. The owner was a middle-aged man wearing a dark blue apron. He was standing in front of the charcoal stove grilling some snapper. When he saw them coming, he shouted:
"Sit inside, sit inside! The menu is on the wall!"
The three of them sat down at a plastic table by the street. Xinhai flipped through the menu and ordered steamed Sea Bass, garlic scallops, fried sea melon seeds, a pot of seafood tofu soup and several bowls of rice. Eevee also ordered a small plate of grilled fish fillets.
"That's it, don't order more if it's not enough." He handed the menu back to the boss.
"Okay, wait a minute!" the boss shouted to the chef and started turning over his grilled fish again.
The dishes are not served very quickly, but every dish is freshly made. Sea Bass is so tender that it falls off the bone as soon as you pinch it with chopsticks. The minced garlic on the scallops is fragrant from the hot oil, and the tofu in the seafood soup is so tender that it melts in your mouth.
Mother Nami was nodding her head as she ate, while Dad Yantai was busy cooking the rice, occasionally raising her eyes and commenting, "This fish is pretty good."
Halfway through the meal, mother Nami put down her chopsticks, looked at Xinhai and asked, "Xinhai, your dad and I were watching from the auditorium during the conference days. Just go ahead and beat us during the competition. Don't worry about us."
"Yeah, I got it." Xinhai put a piece of fish meat into Eevee's small plate. The little guy squatted on the corner of the table, holding the edge of the table with his two front paws, stretched his neck to eat in small mouthfuls, and slowly swept his tail under the table.
"Also," mother Nami thought for a while and added, "No matter where you go, just try your best and there is no need to seek any ranking."
Hearing this, Xinhai smiled while eating the rice in the bowl and nodded to show that he understood.
It was completely dark when I came out of the store. The street lights spread out circles of warm yellow light on the street, and the lighthouse of the port flashed regularly in the distance.
Dad Yantai called Yawn, saying that he was feeling tired after riding the train for most of the day and wanted to go back early to rest.
Xinhai accompanied his parents back to Sea Breeze Hotel. After confirming the room and tomorrow's itinerary at the front desk, he said goodbye to them at the door of the hotel.
"Just arrange your own training tomorrow morning, don't worry about us." Mom Nami stood at the door of the hotel and warned again, "Eat on time, don't make do with it."
"I got it, Mom." Xinhai waved to her, "If you go shopping early tomorrow, you can come to Pokémon Center to see me at noon."
"Okay, okay, let's go." Dad Yantai waved his hand, turned around, put his arm around his mother's shoulders and walked towards the hotel.
Xinhai watched the two people enter the door, then turned around and walked back along the original road.
Eevee squatted on his shoulder, a little sleepy after eating, his little head moved little by little, and his fluffy tail hung on the back of Xinhai's neck, occasionally swaying in the night wind.
"Buyi..." (I feel so comfortable today.) Eevee hummed vaguely.
"Well, take a good rest these days." Xinhai stretched out his hand to support its little head, which was about to fall. "The conference will start in a while."
Early the next morning, Xinhai took his friends to do a few sets of low-intensity warm-ups at the training ground behind Pokémon Center, and then went out.
My parents sent a message saying that they had gone shopping in the port area and bought two bags of local specialty scallops and dried fish, and asked if they would like to eat together at noon.
Xinhai replied "We'll be there soon", put Eevee on his shoulder, and rode a folding bicycle to the port.
Mom Nami waved when she saw him from a distance, holding up a bunch of grilled squid she just bought.
Dad Yantai was standing nearby, chatting animatedly with an old lady selling beautiful shell jewelry, already carrying two paper bags in her hands.
"Your dad bought it again." Mom Nami handed the grilled squid over, with a smile in her voice that couldn't be changed after decades of talking, "I can't walk when I see these gadgets."
"Isn't this something to add to the house?" Dad Yantai came over and shook the paper bag in front of Xinhai, "I bought your mother a beautiful shell wind chime. It will definitely sound good and look good hanging in the yard."
Xinhai took a bite of the grilled squid and nodded. "It's really good."
In the next few days, a family of three shopped around Ever Grande City.
They went to Wetland Park in the south of the city and saw groups of wild Magikarp flapping in the shallows;
Then walk along Coastal Promenade to the observation deck at the east end of the city, from where you can see the whole of Ever Grande Stadium.
Mother Nami stood on the viewing platform for a long time, asking Dad to take several photos for her, and insisted that Xinhai also stand over and take a group photo.
"If I get a good result in the competition, I will enlarge the photo and hang it at home." Mom Nami put away her phone and said seriously.
"What if we lose in the first round?" Xinhai asked with a smile.
"Then hang up the photos of the first round and write 'participation is important' below." Dad Yantai answered the conversation next to him, and he felt happy after saying this.
Xinhai shook his head in confusion.
In the past few days when Xinhai was spending time with his parents, Ever Grande City's footfall has increased visibly to the naked eye.
Pokémon Center Trainers came one after another in the lobby, and the check-in queue at the front desk turned from one end of the lobby to the other.
Next to the vending machine, several trainers were arguing over a battle table. When they got closer, they realized that it was the Pokémon lineup that was the favorite to win the championship in Analytic.
Xinhai didn't stay in the lobby longer, took the room card and went upstairs.
In the evening of that day, he sent a message to his mother Nami, saying that after the opening ceremony would be the qualifiers, and that he had to take care of himself for the next two days, so he would not go shopping with them.
Mom Nami replied quickly, "I know, you should prepare well. Your dad and I will go to watch the opening ceremony, and you should work hard too!"