Only after Shinji's figure had completely disappeared at the end of the slope did Meihui slowly recover from his defeat.
He carefully returned the fainted Chimchar to its Poké Ball, his fingertips turning slightly white from the force of his grip.
A-Xun stepped forward and patted his shoulder, his tone carrying sincere encouragement: "Don't lose heart. We've only just started. As long as we train hard, we'll catch up to him one day."
Meihui took a deep breath and nodded, the frustration in his eyes gradually replaced by stubbornness: "You're right! I won't stay this weak forever. A-Xun, let's make a promise to have a proper match at the Sinnoh League!"
"Good! It's a deal!" A-Xun firmly shook Meihui's hand. The two looked at each other and smiled, the previous awkwardness and loss instantly dissipating.
After a brief farewell, the two walked in opposite directions, each embarking on their own journey.
On the other side, Shinji was walking slowly along the stone path in front of the laboratory.
Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the trees on both sides of the road, casting mottled shadows on him. The salty sea breeze still blew through his purple hair, but it couldn't disperse the cold aura surrounding him.
He was still organizing Chimchar's training plan in his mind, thinking about how to further improve its combat power, when suddenly—
Thud!
With a dull sound and the sensation of a bicycle tire contacting his body, Shinji was once again hit solidly. Although the force wasn't great, being bumped into repeatedly caused his temper to flare instantly.
"Damn it! I've been hit twice in just this short while!" Shinji's brow furrowed as a surge of nameless anger rose. He spun around abruptly, cold, sarcastic words almost escaping his lips.
But at the moment he turned, an apologetic, clear, and melodious female voice sounded first, like a clear spring dripping onto jade, instantly extinguishing most of his anger.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry... I was looking at the map and didn't notice what was in front of me. I'm so sorry for hitting you!"
Shinji focused his gaze and saw a young girl pushing a bicycle, repeatedly bowing and apologizing to him. When the girl raised her face from her bow and Shinji saw her appearance clearly, he couldn't help but be slightly stunned.
The girl before him wore a white knit hat with a pink Poké Ball pattern on it, and several strands of long, deep blue hair hung from beneath the brim.
The ends of her hair had a natural luster, and a golden hairpin was clipped to each side of her head, gathering the stray hairs at her temples into two playful little curves, looking very much like freshly baked cookies.
Her face was as delicate as a carefully carved porcelain doll, her skin white and fine, appearing to emit a soft glow under the sunlight.
A pair of large azure eyes were like crystal-clear lakes, bright without a hint of impurity. At this moment, they were slightly widened due to apology and a bit of panic, her long eyelashes trembling like butterfly wings.
Below her upturned nose, her pink lips were tightly pursed, revealing complete sincerity.
She wore a clean and crisp black V-neck sleeveless top with a white shirt underneath that showed a slender neckline. Her pink miniskirt swayed gently with her steps, highlighting her youthful and energetic figure.
The red scarf around her neck fluttered gently in the wind, making even the surrounding breeze seem to become gentle.
The girl's overall temperament carried a kind of worldly innocence and brightness, like a beam of warm sunlight that instantly dispelled Shinji's usual cold and hard atmosphere, giving off an inexplicable sense of healing.
Especially her cheeks, which were slightly flushed with guilt at this moment, added a touch of pitiable charm.
"It's Dawn..." Shinji immediately recognized this highly popular heroine from the animation. He hadn't expected to meet her here, in this manner.
After bowing several times, Dawn looked up and saw that the other person was just quietly looking at her without speaking. She couldn't help but become even more nervous and added: "Um... I really didn't do it on purpose. Are you hurt?"
Shinji snapped back to his senses, suppressing the slight ripples in his heart, and his originally cold eyes softened a bit.
He waved his hand at Dawn to indicate he was fine, then turned and continued walking forward without saying any unnecessary words.
She was his favorite heroine after all, so he had to give her some face. The sarcastic words he had prepared earlier were completely swallowed back into his heart.
Seeing his cold attitude but that he didn't make things difficult for her, Dawn was about to breathe a sigh of relief when she suddenly remembered her purpose. She hastily shouted at Shinji's back: "Hey! Wait a minute!"
Shinji's footsteps paused for a moment, but he didn't turn around.
Dawn pushed her bicycle and quickly caught up a few steps, asking: "Um... do you know how to get to Rowans Laboratory? I can't quite understand the map, and I've been going in circles for a long time."
Shinji turned sideways, his black-purple eyes glancing at her, and then he raised his right hand, his fingertip pointing precisely in the direction of Rowans Laboratory not far behind him.
Dawn looked in the direction he pointed and indeed saw the building with the iconic glass dome. A brilliant smile immediately bloomed on her face like a blossoming flower, and she happily turned her head to thank him:
"Ah! I see it! Thank you so much..."
Before she could finish her thanks, she turned around only to find that Shinji had already walked quite a distance away, his figure gradually lengthening on the slope, with no intention of staying.
Dawn's smile instantly froze on her face, and then she puffed out her cheeks, dissatisfiedly pouting and stomping her feet: "What's with that! Such a cold attitude! Am I that ugly? Running away so fast! Hmph! What a cold guy! Don't let me run into you again!"
After venting her frustration, she glanced in the direction of Rowans Laboratory. Not daring to delay any longer, she quickly mounted her bicycle and pedaled hard toward the lab.
...
On the other side, Shinji didn't take the little interlude just now to heart at all.
Although he did like the character of Dawn, to his current self, improving his strength was the primary goal.
Sentiments like romantic feelings were temporarily not within his scope of consideration.
He quickened his pace and walked toward the forest near Sandgem Town.
After entering the forest, relying on his rich traveling experience, Shinji quickly found an open clearing.
There weren't many obstacles in the clearing, making it very suitable for skill training.
He stopped, took Chimchar's Poké Ball from the clip on his lower back, and released Chimchar directly.
With a flash of red light, Chimchar appeared in the clearing full of energy, the flame on its rear burning vigorously as it looked at Shinji expectantly.
Shinji pointed to a huge rock in the clearing and said deeply: "Use Ember on that rock. Remember, the Ember must connect into a line; maintain the stability of the energy output."
"Chi!" Chimchar nodded vigorously to show it understood. It turned around, faced the rock, took a deep breath, and then opened its mouth—
"Whoosh—!" A series of small flames spat from its mouth, crackling against the surface of the rock and leaving several charred spots, but the gaps between the flames were obvious, and they were not coherent at all.
Shinji furrowed his brow, his gaze becoming a bit sharper, but he didn't speak to criticize, only ordering again: "Continue."
Chimchar tried again, but the result was much the same; the flames were intermittent and wouldn't form a line.
"No progress at all, too slack." Shinji's voice turned cold, carrying an unquestionable reproach. "Don't stop. Feel the flow of fire energy within your body and try to make it output steadily and continuously."
Hearing Shinji's evaluation, Chimchar's body shook slightly, a hint of unwillingness flashing in its eyes.
It shook its head and focused even more on gathering the Fire-type energy within its body.
It didn't spit it out immediately but tried hard to feel and control that scorching power.
A moment later, it opened its mouth again— "Whoosh—!"
This time, although the flames spat out were still not perfectly coherent, the frequency of the bursts was significantly faster, the gaps between flames became much smaller, and there was a faint sign of them connecting into a line of fire!
Although the duration was very short, it was a visible improvement.
Seeing Chimchar's comprehension and effort, Shinji's furrowed brow relaxed slightly. He couldn't help but nod slightly, just about to speak to give the next set of instructions.
Just then—
"Aaaah—!!!"
A girl's scream full of terror suddenly came from deep within the forest behind them.
The sound was sharp, piercing the silence of the woods and instantly interrupting Shinji and Chimchar's focused training.
Shinji's gaze turned cold, and he instantly turned toward the source of the sound, a hint of sharpness flashing in his black-purple eyes.
Chimchar also immediately stopped its practice, its ears perking up alertly as the flame on its rear flickered.