Four days later...
With his vacation over, Young Master Mao set off for Unova with his three students and the staff from Rustboro Academy.
Paul had to return to Sinnoh for personal reasons, so he took the opportunity to part ways with Young Master Mao's group.
As a second-tier competition, the Inter-School Exchange Tournament had delivered plenty of spectacular performances over the years.
As a result, it received every bit as much attention as the Pokémon League's regional tournaments.
TV stations had gathered in Driftveil City, waiting to broadcast the three-day student tournament.
Aboard the flight to Unova, all three youngsters seemed a little uneasy.
"Relax. I have a pretty good idea of what you're capable of. If you can't win even with that, the other side must be cheating..." Young Master Mao joked with his students, smiling.
"We'll do our best." Kimarō nodded, his expression solemn and serious.
The young master who had once thought he would never be able to have anything to do with Pokémon could now pursue his dreams like this.
Kimarō was grateful to Gary from the bottom of his heart, and he would never let his teacher down.
Wally, whose circumstances were somewhat similar to Kimarō's, felt the same way. He had gone from a sickly, abandoned child to being healthy, and had gained so many friends and Pokémon companions.
The frail, green-haired Chitose clenched his fists. No one, whoever they were, could stand in his teacher's way.
Compared with those two, Brendan, who was staring excitedly out the window, was much more composed.
He had joined Gary in the first place to grow stronger. And now, Gary had given him results.
What else was there to say? Just get it done!
Brendan stared out the window with blazing eyes. I'm not all talk!