At noon that day, Liu Qing finally reached Hearthome City in Cynthia's SUV, one day before the Friendship Tournament officially began.
"Wow, it's already so lively! The Friendship Tournament must have drawn quite a crowd!" Lusana, who loved a bustling scene, exclaimed happily as she took in Hearthome City's lively streets, packed with food stalls of every kind and throngs of visitors.
"Of course it has. The Unova Region is in the Western Hemisphere, and Pokémon Trainers from there rarely travel to our Eastern Hemisphere. With the Friendship Tournament being held here, naturally there'll be plenty of Pokémon from Unova. Even if people in the Eastern Hemisphere have heard of them, that's different from seeing them in person. It's only natural that people would be interested!" As usual, Liu Yuan seized the opportunity to spar with Lusana!
"These two little rascals..." Caught between laughter and exasperation, Liu Qing shook his head at the smug Liu Yuan and the glaring Lusana. He had grown thoroughly accustomed to this over the past few days.
"Where are we going now? Aren't we heading to the Pokémon Center?" Cynthia paid no mind to the two youngsters' bickering either, but the route Liu Qing was taking made her curious.
"The Pokémon Center is already packed with Pokémon Trainers who've come to watch the tournament. If we went there now, where would we stay?" Liu Qing smiled. "Besides, neither we nor the other competitors should really be staying at the Pokémon Center, so I talked it over with Aze and booked rooms there. Consider it a little extra income for your family!" As he spoke, he pointed toward a towering building in the distance.
"The Green Source Holiday Hotel?!" Cynthia looked at the enormous, gleaming sign, somewhat speechless. The hotel was famous throughout Sinnoh, offering dining,