Xia You and the two girls ended up waiting in the Rest Room for over an hour.
During that time, neither Steven Stone nor any of the staff appeared. It was as though they had been forgotten. Only when even Misty was growing impatient did the Rest Room door open, and the staff member who had registered them earlier walked up to him with an apologetic expression, holding a gleaming gold badge.
"Sorry for the wait, Mr. Xia You. This is our Battle Dome's Tactics Symbol. I'll hand it over to you now."
Honestly, Xia You was not at all surprised that the person delivering the medal was merely a staff member rather than Steven Stone.
Had he been beaten that badly himself, he probably would have been too ashamed to face his opponent, never mind the serious public relations crisis Steven Stone had to handle.
Xia You said nothing and reached out to accept it. Misty, however, clearly was not willing to let Steven Stone off yet. "We've been traveling for so long, but this is the first time a medal hasn't been delivered by the facility's leader. Mr. Steven Stone must be very busy right now."
Misty's sarcastic remark was no different from rubbing another handful of salt into Steven Stone's wounds.
Fortunately, Steven Stone himself was not there. Although the staff member was embarrassed, he was not about to relay those words to Steven Stone and give him another headache.
"You must be joking, miss." The staff member wore a stiff smile. "We aren't a Pokémon Gym, so our rules are slightly different. Well, it's getting late, so I won't disturb you any longer. I'll take my leave."
With that, he shut the door without waiting for Misty to say anything else and practically fled.
The instant