The next day, the crowds in Silver Town kept growing. The four of them went out to take a look and quickly lost any desire to explore.
Even the restaurants were packed now, and they could not find anywhere to eat.
Fortunately, Steven used the power of money and hired a housekeeper at a generous salary to cook for them.
So the four spent the day at home, chatting and drinking tea while their Pokémon exchanged training tips.
Mew had been nowhere to be seen over the past two days, only coming back at mealtimes. Chen Shi did not bother keeping tabs on it.
Its absence suited him just fine. That was one less thing to worry about.
Before long, it was the morning of October 18. The four got ready and headed out.
But just as they stepped outside, they ran into Wallace and Winona, who were leaving together.
After they exchanged greetings, Wallace said, "What a coincidence. You're heading over to sign up too, right?"
"Want to go together?"
"Sure!" The four readily agreed. They felt it would be nice to get to know Wallace.
Along the way, however, Winona kept stealing glances at Cynthia, an unreadable emotion surfacing in her eyes.
Outside the Silver Conference Hall, Pheobe looked at the long line and grumbled.
"There are way too many people here. Just how many people are entering this competition?"
Chen Shi sighed as well. The line stretched on and on. If they joined it now, their turn might not come even by noon.
Hadn't they said they were only inviting talented trainers under twenty?
Since when were there so many prodigies?
Just then, Cynthia said calmly, "Their invitations seem different from ours."
Everyone paused, then realized that the invitations held by the people in line really