"That direction..." Ash stood up, his eyes full of longing. "That should be where Xia You and Miss Saori are battling, right?"
Brock nodded. "When I looked back earlier, I saw them heading that way. Unless something unexpected happened, it should be them."
"But..." Max asked in surprise, "wasn't it just a normal practice battle? How did they make such a huge commotion?"
Indeed, compared with battles between ordinary Pokémon Trainers, both the explosion they had just heard and the flames burning in the distance seemed a little too over the top.
Anyone who didn't know better might even think something had happened over there!
"There's nothing strange about that. Both Xia You and Miss Saori are strong, after all, so how could their battle not make a lot of noise?" Ash shrugged, but then sighed. "Man, I really want to go watch..."
Who didn't?
They all felt an unbearable itch to see what had happened, but since they had already promised Xia You, they could only sit there longingly, watching people outside the window keep running in that direction while they had to stay put and wait for news.
Just then, the distant flames suddenly vanished completely, as though something had doused them. Not a trace of fire remained, and even the explosions stopped, as if everything had fallen utterly silent.
Huh?
Was it over?
None of them knew what had happened, so they could only keep eating while waiting for Xia You to return.
Fortunately, they didn't have to wait long. Just over ten minutes later, the door opened, and Xia You strolled in looking relaxed.
Ash was the first to ask, unable to wait. "Xia You! Who won, you or Miss Saori?"
Before Xia You could answer, Max rolled his eyes at Ash.
"Come on, you can't