Chapter 55: Birch Research Institute

"Huh, I lost, Winona."

When Swellow landed on the ground, Winona and her Pelipper were already waiting nearby.

"No, you didn't lose. In fact, you could say you won."

Winona looked at the young man in front of her and sighed.

The other party had already grasped the essence of airflow. With a few more practices, he could master it. And this was an achievement she had worked hard for a long time to achieve.

"Winona, are you a Gym Leader at the Fortree Gym?"

At this point, Rex has already recognized Winona's identity. After all, with a name like Winona and such superb flying skills, Rex didn't believe in coincidences.

"Yes, let me reintroduce myself. I'm Winona, a Gym Leader at the Fortree Gym. Nice to meet you, Rex."

Winona saw that her identity had been exposed, so she didn't hide it anymore.

"Winona, I remember it's quite far from your Fortree City. How long did it take you to fly here?"

Rex asked curiously.

"It's not too bad. I have quite a few Flying-type Pokémon, so I can switch them out for flying. It only took me three days."

Winona answered Rex's question.

"I see. I'm heading to Professor Birch's research institute. How about you?"

"That's quite a coincidence. I'm also going to see Professor Birch."

Rex was somewhat surprised that their destinations were the same.

But then he thought, unless they have relatives living here in Littleroot Town, as Trainers, they are most likely going to see Professor Birch. After all, there's no other place worth visiting for Trainers in Littleroot Town.

"Then let's go."

Rex and Winona didn't walk for long before arriving at a spacious residential area. In the center of the gate, it read "Birch Research Institute."

"Hello, is anyone there!"

Rex asked loudly.

"Coming, coming!"

Before long, a middle-aged man wearing a white coat and sporting a beard came out.

"Oh, it's Winona. And who is this?"

Professor Birch was obviously familiar with Winona, but when he saw Rex with her, he seemed a bit puzzled, probably because Winona had always come alone before!

"Hello, Professor Birch, I'm Rex, the one who contacted you yesterday."

Rex politely responded to his question.

"Oh, it's you. I like polite young men. Haha!"

After hearing Rex's words, Professor Birch's doubts disappeared, and he even joked, obviously in a good mood.

Later, guided by Professor Birch, Rex and Winona entered his research institute. The space inside the institute was large, but it was cluttered with documents everywhere, indicating that Professor Birch didn't pay much attention to cleanliness on ordinary days.

"Winona, this is the Ducklett you wanted. For it, I had to plead with Professor Redwood for a long time to help me find it."

The two followed Professor Birch to a pond in the backyard, where a light blue Ducklett was leisurely swimming.

Ducklett didn't seem surprised when it saw Rex and the others; it just turned its head away somewhat arrogantly.

"Thank you so much, Professor Birch!"

Seeing Ducklett, Winona was also very excited. She had no resistance to Flying-type Pokémon, especially this one with such good looks.

"Ducklett, nice to meet you. I'll be your Trainer from now on."

Winona turned to the cold-looking Ducklett and said.

After hearing Winona's words, Ducklett stared at her with sharp eyes and nodded slowly.

"Do you want to battle me?"

Winona asked.

Ducklett gazed at her and nodded slowly.

"Go, Swellow!"

As Winona spoke, a differently colored Swellow appeared in Rex's sight.

From the momentum of this Swellow, Rex could tell that Winona had trained it well. It was even bigger than the average Swellow, although it was still much smaller than his Swellow.

"Sorry, I didn't bring a Pokémon of similar level to battle."

Looking at Winona's and Professor Birch's somewhat strange looks, Winona blushed slightly.

She knew it was a bit unfair to use a shiny Swellow of this level to battle Ducklett. But she really didn't bring a Pokémon of similar level to battle Ducklett!

At this moment, Ducklett, who was posing arrogantly in the pond, was also panicking inside.

Although it still maintained a haughty appearance, its heart was in turmoil. Did they make a mistake? Was it necessary to bully this little Ducklett with such a strong Pokémon? I'll remember this grudge!

After a mental struggle, Ducklett chose to lie flat on the water's surface. It was still aloof, not stupid. This way, it implied, "I'm lying flat. Do as you please."

"Then go, Poké Ball!"

Seeing that Ducklett was lying flat, although it was somewhat unfair, Winona still took out a Poké Ball and threw it towards Ducklett.

Sure enough, the Poké Ball extinguished without even shaking, leaving Rex and Professor Birch stunned, feeling that the woman in front of them was not to be trifled with and somewhat fierce.

"Cough, now that you've captured Ducklett, it's your turn, Rex. Follow me."

Seeing the awkward situation, Professor Birch quickly changed the subject.

Then, the three of them entered a tightly guarded room with at least three password locks on the door, including iris recognition, facial recognition, and a key. As for whether there were any other security measures, Rex didn't know.

After entering, Rex found that the room was large, with many shelves resembling cabinets. Each shelf contained a Pokémon Egg, densely packed, and Rex couldn't count how many there were.

"Have you decided which Pokémon to choose?"

Professor Birch asked.

"Yes, I want a Torchic. Is that okay?"

Rex had already thought about what kind of Pokémon he needed before coming.

Now he lacked a Fire-type Pokémon, and the Torchic's final evolution, Blaziken, could undergo Mega Evolution, becoming a powerful Pokémon.

Although the corresponding Mega Evolution Stone and Key Stone for Blaziken were not easy to obtain, shouldn't he be allowed to look forward to the future?

"All the eggs on this shelf are Torchic eggs. You can choose one from them."

Rex followed Professor Birch to a shelf. There were probably more than thirty Torchic eggs on it.

Looking at so many Torchic eggs, Rex didn't know how to choose for a moment. After thinking about it, he closed his eyes.

Seeing Rex choosing like this, Professor Birch and Winona, who were watching nearby, thought this boy might have something wrong with his head.

Of course, Rex wasn't crazy to choose like this.

With his deepening understanding of the life force within him, he could now vaguely sense the strength of the life force in the Pokémon eggs.

Perhaps as he continued to deepen his understanding, one day he would be able to sense the life force of adult Pokémon.

Of course, he didn't know what the purpose of that would be, but for now, he could use this ability to sense the egg with the strongest life force.

"I want this egg. Is that okay?"

Rex, who had closed his eyes, suddenly opened them and pointed to a Pokémon egg diagonally above him.

"Of course!"

Seeing that Rex had chosen the Pokémon egg, although the method was somewhat strange, Professor Birch didn't inquire further. He directly put the egg into a prepared incubator and handed it to Rex himself.

Rex took the incubator and held it in front of him. At this moment, he seemed to hear the Torchic inside the egg saying hello to him.

"Here, this is the Pokédex."

After choosing the Pokémon egg, Professor Birch led them to a laboratory and handed a Pokédex to him.

"Professor Birch, could you upgrade the contents of the Pokédex for me? I want it to be able to record all the Pokémon in every region."

After receiving the Pokédex, Rex found that it only recorded common Pokémon in the Hoenn region, so he asked Professor Birch.

"We generally don't recommend upgrading the Pokédex for ordinary new Trainers, but it seems like you're quite capable. I'll give you a chance!

If you can defeat Winona in a 1v1 Pokémon battle, I'll help you upgrade it. Do you dare to challenge?"

Professor Birch said with some playful tone.

Requesting stones! Requesting recommendations!