"Swellow, use Hyper Beam!"
Rex commanded his Swellow in the sky.
It had been five days since Rex challenged the Fortree Gym. During this time, Swellow had been learning the Hyper Beam move from Winona's shiny Swellow.
As Winona mentioned, learning Hyper Beam was indeed challenging. Even with Swellow's innate talent, it took four days to barely master the move, which had already surprised Winona.
She had previously had her shiny Swellow teach other trainers' Pokémon the Hyper Beam move, but most could not learn it, or it took them a long time to barely grasp it.
Of course, although Swellow had learned Hyper Beam, using it in battle still required a lot more practice.
First, Swellow took too long to gather energy for Hyper Beam, making it easy to interrupt. After releasing Hyper Beam, Swellow needed half a minute to recover, during which it could not use any other moves.
Despite these drawbacks, there was something that satisfied Rex: the power of Swellow's Hyper Beam was immense, likely due to its larger size. To Rex, it seemed at least twice as powerful as Winona's shiny Swellow's Hyper Beam.
Winona's Swellow had weakened its Hyper Beam to reduce the recovery time, but the reduction wasn't that significant; otherwise, it would be better off using Air Slash.
If hit by such a powerful Hyper Beam, most Pokémon wouldn't be able to withstand it and might be knocked out in one blow. However, aiming accurately was still an issue. Currently, Swellow's control over Hyper Beam was still somewhat shaky, often deviating from the intended target.
Rex's goal for Swellow now was to quickly familiarize itself with Hyper Beam to the point where it could be used in actual battles. Only then could they seek improvements like Winona's shiny Swellow did.
"Miss Winona, thank you very much for your hospitality these past few days. However, I think it's time for me to head to the next gym location."
Rex bid farewell to Winona after finding her.
During these days, Winona had indeed taken good care of him. Not only did she let her shiny Swellow teach his Swellow the Hyper Beam move, but she also taught him a lot about being a trainer.
These were exactly the kinds of knowledge Rex, a self-taught trainer, lacked. Since arriving in this world, he had tried to learn from books about trainers, but he had never had systematic training, so many things that were common knowledge to trainers here were unfamiliar to him.
In these few days, Winona had helped him fill in some of these gaps, making him feel he had gained a lot.
"You really should hurry, since the next Ever Grande Conference is not far off. I look forward to your performance in the competition."
Winona, appreciating Rex's talent, had a fondness for him, which was why she taught him some trainer knowledge, hoping he could go further on this path.
After saying goodbye to Winona, Rex flew on Swellow towards Slateport City. Although there wasn't a gym there, the next gym location, Mossdeep City, was an island city far from Hoenn's mainland, reachable only by boat.
He didn't dare risk flying across the sea on Swellow. Any accident during the flight would be unbearable, so going to Slateport City to take a ship to Mossdeep City was his only option.
Actually, between Fortree City and Slateport City, there was a large Safari Zone. By buying a ticket, one could get 30 Safari Balls and then enter the zone to catch Pokémon.
Rex knew there were many Pokémon living there, but he had no time to experience it this time, planning to visit later when he had the chance to enjoy catching Pokémon with Safari Balls.
Flying over the Safari Zone, Rex saw many wild Pokémon, even herds of Tauros running on the plains. For a moment, he was tempted to go down and experience it, but he restrained himself.
After passing the Safari Zone, Slateport City wasn't far. After flying for about another half hour, Rex finally saw a lot of tall buildings and structures in the distance, knowing he had reached Slateport City.
Landing at Slateport City's Pokémon Plaza near dusk, Rex planned to buy a ticket for the next day's ship to Mossdeep City and then explore this port city.
"May, did you go to see the Slateport City Pokémon Contest today?"
A slim, youthful girl asked her companion, holding a Marill in her arms.
"Yes, it's a pity you couldn't go. Let me tell you, today's contest was very dazzling, and the winner was a very lively girl."
"Really? I wish I could have gone, but something came up at the store, and I had to miss it."
The two passed by Rex, continuing their conversation, though he couldn't hear the rest. He knew about Pokémon Contests but wasn't particularly interested, so he just treated it as a bit of trivia.
After about ten minutes of walking, Rex arrived at the ticket office. Unfortunately, the direct ship to Mossdeep City was sold out, and the next one was in five days.
In the end, Rex followed the ticket clerk's suggestion, bought a ticket to Bomba Island, and planned to transfer to another ship to Mossdeep City from there, saving some time.
Though transferring was a hassle, he didn't want to wait in Slateport City for several days. He preferred to take the ship and explore the islands, experiencing their customs and scenery.
With his travel plans sorted, Rex started exploring Slateport City. Along the way, he noticed many people discussing the Pokémon Contest that had ended earlier, indicating it was quite exciting and didn't disappoint the audience.
Using his phone's travel guide, Rex found a restaurant famous for its omelet rice, a must-visit spot in Slateport City.
"Welcome."
The waitress greeted Rex with a smile as he entered the restaurant.
After sitting down, Rex ordered the restaurant's most famous omelet rice and a few side dishes, then waited for his food.
Soon, the steaming omelet rice was served. The golden, aromatic dish made Rex feel he had come to the right place.
As expected, the first bite captivated him with its deliciousness, and the other dishes were also very tasty. Overall, he enjoyed the meal immensely.
"Please visit us again."
The waitress bid him farewell as Rex left, satisfied.
Rex continued exploring Slateport City, discovering many berry vendors and places where customers could make their own Pokéblocks.
Unfortunately, Rex hadn't had time to learn Pokéblock making from Yuli, so these places were of little use to him. He couldn't just start learning to make Pokéblocks here.