After realizing this, Leon no longer mentioned going off to train and instead stayed with the group to wait.
He had already made up his mind—
from now on, he would stick with Chen Shi and go nowhere else.
From their very first meeting, Leon had felt that Chen Shi was not simple.
He couldn't see through him.
And Chen Shi seemed to know far more than he should.
Following him would definitely not be a mistake.
Meanwhile, Lance was secretly observing Chen Shi, deep in thought.
Team Magma and Team Aqua clearly had their own objectives.
And Chen Shi, unwilling to leave, must also have his own purpose.
Could it be…
that their goals were the same?
Was it for some kind of treasure…?
Or perhaps a rare Pokémon?
Or—
was Chen Shi's objective entirely different from theirs?
Just what was it?
If Chen Shi knew what Lance was thinking, he'd probably jump up and slap him.
After all the effort he'd put in—
this was what people thought of him?
But it wasn't entirely Lance's fault.
As an investigator, he had seen too much darkness.
Sometimes, he instinctively assumed the worst.
…
Time passed little by little.
After Leon arrived, quite a while went by—
yet not a single person showed up.
Phoebe couldn't help but complain.
"Chen Shi gege, why hasn't Cynthia come yet?"
"We've been waiting for so long…"
Chen Shi shook his head without replying.
Leon spoke up:
"Not just Cynthia—even others haven't come. Could it be they've run into danger?"
"That shouldn't be the case!" Phoebe exclaimed.
"I counted before we came in—there were seventy or eighty people. How could all of them be in danger?"
"Probably not," Chen Shi said.
"First, there were many people, and some might simply be too far away to see the signal."
"Second, even if some saw it, they might not come."
"With how complicated things are now, not everyone would dare approach."
Everyone thought about it and agreed.
With Team Magma and Team Aqua already inside—
many would assume the signal was some kind of trap.
"So what do we do now? Just keep waiting?" Phoebe pouted, kicking a stone away.
Chen Shi glanced at her with a faint smile.
"You're free to leave. I'm not stopping you."
Phoebe froze, then awkwardly shook her head.
Leave?
With nothing on her—not even Poké Balls she owned herself?
She'd probably starve to death.
Chen Shi ignored her and took out food from his bag, feeding Dragapult and the others.
When it came to eating—
Jirachi, Mew, and Victini were always the most enthusiastic.
The moment Chen Shi took out energy cubes—
they had already gathered around him, staring eagerly.
Chen Shi laughed.
"You three gluttons—always the first to show up when it's time to eat!"
Jirachi scratched its head shyly.
Victini clutched its belly, pretending to look pitiful.
Mew, on the other hand—
was completely shameless.
It didn't care what Chen Shi said—
as long as it got food.
Leon and Lance also took out food for their Pokémon.
Only Phoebe—
walked up to Chen Shi, smiling brightly and holding out her hand.
The meaning was obvious.
Chen Shi: "..."
…
This secret realm was unusual—
there was no night, only endless daylight.
After waiting for a long time with no one arriving, Chen Shi decided to set up tents and rest.
Luckily, he had brought an extra tent.
Otherwise, he wouldn't even know how to arrange things for unlucky Phoebe.
But just as he finished setting up—
a sharp sound cut through the air above.
Everyone looked up.
A Garchomp streaked across the sky. After flying past, it seemed to notice them and quickly circled back.
The moment Chen Shi saw it—
a smile appeared on his face.
The person he had been waiting for—
had arrived.
"It's Cynthia's Garchomp!" Phoebe exclaimed excitedly.
She grabbed Chen Shi's sleeve with one hand and pointed ahead with the other, shaking him excitedly.
"Chen Shi gege, look! It's Cynthia's Garchomp! She must be here!"
"Yeah, yeah, I know. Stop shaking me," Chen Shi said helplessly.
Phoebe stuck out her tongue and ran over.
"Cynthia jie, why did you take so long? I missed you so much!"
As Cynthia stepped down from Garchomp, she smiled gently.
"I was quite far away. After entering, I was teleported into a desert."
"I had just come out of it—otherwise, I wouldn't have even seen your signal."
"You were teleported into a desert?!" Phoebe gasped.
Then she immediately began complaining about how miserable she had been.
At first, Cynthia found it a little amusing—
but as she listened, she fell silent.
Compared to Phoebe—
her own experience hadn't been much better.
She had been thrown straight into a sandstorm, where visibility was almost zero.
Later, she was chased relentlessly by Cacturne, barely having time to eat.
Thinking back on the past few days, Cynthia sighed inwardly.
Then she said softly,
"Alright, let's leave that aside for now. I need to discuss something with your Chen Shi gege."
"Oh… okay!"
Phoebe nodded and followed her back.
As Cynthia approached, Chen Shi spoke first:
"Are you alright?"
Unexpectedly—
Cynthia asked the same thing at the exact same time.
"Are you alright?"
The two paused.
Their first words upon meeting—
were concern for each other.
Leon and Lance exchanged a glance, both wearing knowing smiles, before quietly retreating to their tents.
The atmosphere grew slightly awkward.
Chen Shi cleared his throat.
"There's been a change in this secret realm. I was worried about your safety, so I had Charizard create that signal."
"I hoped you would notice it."
Cynthia nodded lightly.
"You noticed it too?"
"On my way here, I saw a large number of Team Magma members gathering."
"More importantly…"
Her expression turned serious.
"They've captured many of the participants!"
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