Ever since Teddiursa and its companions joined Rex Farm, Combusken's duo of street loafers had upgraded to a street loafer squad. Apart from their daily training, they enjoyed wandering around or exploring the Petalburg Forest.
Because of this, Teddiursa and its companions quickly got to know all the Pokémon on Rex Farm and got along well with them.
The encounters during their migration made them resent their weakness, and with the abundant food at Rex Farm, they now followed Combusken's daily training regimen.
They also wanted to become strong, but previously, just staying alive had exhausted all their energy. Only after coming to the food-rich Rex Farm did they have the conditions to train.
"Let's set off now," Rex said to the three women who had already packed up.
It was the day of the grand festival in Slateport City. After arranging all the farm affairs early, Rex and his group planned to set off for Slateport City.
Since the main purpose this time was to watch the competition, Rex didn't bring too many Pokémon, only Swellow and Haunter.
Then, he had Heracross and Machoke coordinate farm affairs. If there were any situations they couldn't handle, they would have Swellow inform them immediately.
With these arrangements, Rex believed there wouldn't be any problems during their absence.
Yuli and the other women got up early to prepare Pokéblocks for the Pokémon for the next few days. They also dressed up meticulously, leaving Rex a bit stunned.
"Boss, are you seeing things?" Yui teased upon seeing Rex's reaction.
"Of course! We just don't dress up often," Karen said confidently.
"Alright, you two stop being vain. Let's hurry up; it's my first time going to Slateport City," Yuli said, rescuing Rex from his awkwardness and looking forward to the trip.
Yuli was very excited about going to Slateport City. She had never left Fallarbor Town since she could remember, so going to a big city like Slateport was a novel experience.
It was the same for Yui. They had never had the chance to visit the nearby big city and only knew about the outside world through television.
Karen, who had been working for over a year, had visited various places for work but had never truly experienced them.
They each rode a Swellow and flew towards Slateport City.
To ensure the women's safety, Rex had his Swellow fly behind them. The journey required crossing a forest to reach Slateport City, and he couldn't be sure there wouldn't be any troublesome Pokémon.
Fortunately, everything went smoothly, and they landed in Slateport City's Pokémon Square after half an hour. The delay was due to the other Swellows' slower flying speeds.
As the leader, Rex's Swellow had been teaching the newly evolved Swellows the Tailwind skill, but none had mastered it, possibly due to their potential.
This limited their flying speed, and because they had recently evolved, they couldn't fly with passengers for more than an hour without getting exhausted.
Fortunately, the distance between Slateport City and Fallarbor Town was within the Swellows' limits. Otherwise, they would have had to take a bus, which would have taken longer and been less enjoyable.
They arrived in Slateport City at 8:30 AM, with the grand festival starting at 9:30 AM, giving them an hour of free time.
Using navigation, Rex led them to the festival venue, seeing many others heading there too.
People were walking in groups, discussing the festival. Some were fans of certain contestants, some loved the competitions, and others were friends and family of participants, planning to cheer them on.
"Mom, why are you here?"
At the venue entrance, May happily called out upon seeing her mother Caroline.
Max jumped into Caroline's arms. Though usually mature, he couldn't contain his excitement at seeing his mother.
"Of course, I came to see you shine, May. And you all look healthy too," Caroline greeted May, Ash, and Brock.
"Mom, where's Dad?" May asked, looking around.
"There's too many gym challengers recently; your dad couldn't get away," Caroline said apologetically.
"Oh, okay." May lowered her head in disappointment at not seeing her father, Norman.
"But your dad said he'll be cheering for you in front of the TV," Caroline reassured her by poking her gently.
"Mm!" May nodded understandingly.
"Where's Rex? Should we call him?" Ash suggested suddenly.
Having missed the chance to battle Rex before, Ash planned to take this opportunity to have a match with him as a warm-up for the next tournament.
"Yes, I'll contact him to see if he's arrived," May remembered Rex was supposed to come and responded.
"Is Rex a new friend of yours?" Caroline asked curiously.
Though Rex had challenged the Petalburg Gym before, Caroline hadn't met him.
"No need to call, I'm here. Hello, Auntie," Rex arrived with Yuli and the others, politely greeting Caroline.
"Who are these beautiful ladies?" Brock asked eagerly upon seeing the women with Rex.
Rex introduced Yuli and the others, and Ash and the group introduced themselves.
"Rex, I've been training hard. How about a battle?" Ash eagerly challenged after introductions.
"Um, let's wait until after May's competition. We're here to support her," Rex declined quickly.
"Exactly, Rex is here to cheer for me. Ash, you can battle him later," May supported Rex, diffusing the situation.
As they chatted, the grand festival began.
(End of chapter)