Chapter 28 Taillow Tribe

"Yuli, has the tree fruit mixer I ordered arrived?"

Rex remembered the tree fruit mixer he had ordered before and asked.

"It arrived yesterday. The big box under the stairs is it."

Yuli Terada pointed to the stairs leading to the second floor.

Rex looked in the direction pointed by Yuli Terada's finger and indeed saw a large box.

"Well, let's look at it tomorrow. I'm exhausted today; I'll go rest first!"

Rex saw that the tree fruit mixer had already been delivered and wasn't in a hurry to check it. He had been tired all day and wanted to rest early.

"Boss, you go rest first. I'll stay here and read for a while!"

Yuli smiled and said.

The next day, early morning

Rex felt like he was starting to recognize his bed. Last night was the most comfortable sleep he had had in the past few days. While at the Slateport Pokémon Center, he felt his sleep was shallow and easily disrupted.

After stretching, Rex freshened up and went downstairs. He saw that Heracross and the others were already having breakfast, so he greeted them.

"Gastly, come out and say hi to everyone too!"

Rex looked at the Pokémon in front of him and felt like something was missing. Suddenly, he had an idea and turned to his own shadow.

After Rex's words, his shadow swayed for a moment, and then Gastly slowly floated out.

"Is this the child one you captured when you went to Slateport City?"

Yuli Terada was also somewhat surprised to see Gastly. After all, Ghost-type Pokémon were not common, let alone captured.

"Yes, I met it nearby when I went to pay my respects to my parents. Since I saw it had no companions around, I invited it to be my Pokémon."

Rex briefly explained how he captured Gastly.

For some reason, Gastly was a bit timid. It never showed itself in front of Flannery and the others while in Slateport City, but it got along well with Swellow and Poliwag.

After introducing Gastly to everyone, Rex didn't pay much attention to it anymore. He believed that after a few days of getting along, Gastly would be able to integrate into the Rex Farm.

After breakfast, Rex asked Heracross to help move the tree fruit mixer to the center of the hall since he couldn't move it himself.

"Yuli, there's a manual for this instrument inside. You can look at it for now. When our fruits are ripe, you can operate it."

Rex looked at the large square object in front of him. After fiddling with it for a while, he gave up. Making energy cubes in reality wasn't as simple as in the game; it required profound knowledge.

Rex planned to wait until Yuli Terada successfully made energy cubes before learning from her. This way, he could save time and effort by not starting from scratch.

"Okay, boss, I'll do my best. I won't let your investment go to waste."

Yuli assured Rex.

She knew the price of this instrument. If it weren't for Rex's significant investment, she wouldn't know how long it would take her to save up to use the tree fruit mixer.

"Well, don't put too much pressure on yourself. With this instrument, I believe we will succeed in making energy cubes one day."

Rex didn't want to pressure Yuli, so he comforted her.

After breakfast, Rex led the Pokémon to the orchard.

The place was already different. There were already over 20 fruit trees bearing fruit. It would be time to harvest soon, which was crucial.

After the fruits ripened, they would emit a fragrance, attracting Pokémon that fed on fruits. This required Rex to ensure protection.

If only a few Pokémon were attracted, it would be manageable, but if there were many, neither Swellow nor Heracross would be able to handle them all.

"Swellow, could you go back to your birthplace and recruit some Taillow to settle here?"

After much thought, Rex suddenly had an idea and said to Swellow.

Indeed, this was Rex's plan. The defense of Rex Farm was still too weak. If he could attract a group of Taillow to settle here, he could train them to be the farm's guards.

Rex Farm was large enough to accommodate more Pokémon species. However, it would have to wait until the other fruit trees bore fruit.

As for Swellow, it was thrilled with Rex's request. It had evolved into a Swellow now. Having a group of younger siblings would be fantastic.

As the saying goes, "The prodigal son returns." Like wearing a rich coat at night, Swellow naturally wanted to show its face in its original tribe. After chirping a few times to Rex, it flew eagerly towards the Orange Forest.

"Hey, Swellow, wait, I haven't finished yet!"

Rex was both amused and frustrated by Swellow's eagerness. He still wanted to discuss the limit on the number of Taillow to be introduced!

According to his estimation, after the fruits ripened, aside from using some to make energy cubes, the remaining fruits could feed over 20 Taillow, which should be manageable even if there were some shortages of food.

Now, this fellow Swellow flew off without even hearing what he had to say. He just hoped it wouldn't bring back too many Taillow!

Just as Rex was pondering how many Taillow Swellow would bring back, he suddenly felt something tugging at his pant leg.

"Poliwag, stop pulling, you're going to pull my pants off!"

Rex lowered his head and saw that it was Poliwag, looking up at him with its large eyes shining brightly.

Seeing this scene, Rex was a bit puzzled.

"Do you also want to have a group and be the leader?"

After thinking for a while, Rex said uncertainly.

Upon seeing that Rex understood its intention, Poliwag nodded frantically and then waved its fins like a fan, making Rex a little dizzy.

"You're not ready yet. You need to evolve first and have enough strength. That way, you can manage a group and protect them from harm, understand?"

Rex squatted down, picked up Poliwag, and said to it.

Afterward, Poliwag pointed to Mareep with some dissatisfaction, as if it felt unfair.

"Mareep is different. Rex Farm mainly relies on the wool produced by Mareep to sustain itself. That's why we raise them. And the reason Mareep can become the leader of the Mareep is because it has selflessly protected the other Mareep. But in reality, its strength is still too weak, and it needs to work hard!"

Rex's words seemed to be addressed to Poliwag, but they were also directed at Mareep.

Indeed, after hearing Rex's words, although Mareep was initially a bit reluctant, after some thought, it reluctantly admitted it.

After all, it hadn't defeated the invading Arbok; it had just delayed them. Even so, it had suffered serious injuries.

Now, both Poliwag and Mareep felt an urgent need for strength improvement. They believed that in the future training, they would spontaneously work hard without needing much urging from him.

Thinking of this, Rex couldn't help but praise his own ingenuity.

For the rest of the day, Rex led the Pokémon to complete the farm chores and then began their training.

The performances of Poliwag and Mareep were as he expected, much harder than usual. This motivated other Pokémon, especially Bellsprout, who seemed a bit slack.

They trained until evening. Suddenly, a group of bird Pokémon flew in from the distance, but because they were still far away, Rex couldn't see them clearly.

After a while, Rex finally saw them. Under the leadership of a Swellow, a group of Taillow flew over.

Led by Swellow, they landed in the open space in front of Rex.

"Swellow, you're back. Thank you for your hard work!"

Rex said to Swellow.

Although Swellow flew away without listening to Rex's words, since the matter had already happened, he didn't want to dwell on it.

After counting the number of Taillow behind Swellow, Rex couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. There were 34 in total, slightly exceeding his planned number, but the difference wasn't significant, and he could still afford to feed them.

Yes, during the time while waiting for the fruits to ripen, Rex needed to buy enough energy cubes to feed these Taillow.

Fortunately, the strength of these Taillow was quite average, so they wouldn't consume too many energy cubes each day.

Your support is my motivation for creation!

(End of this chapter)