Route 11 & 12

Rex peered at the snoring mountain in front of him. He was surprised to see A Snorlax here, but it wasn't something crazy since they sleep wherever they want and are very strong Pokémon. He was thinking of catching it, but he didn't like that it slept all day, he had no way of waking it up when he wanted to.

Sure, he had Aura which gave him the telepathy ability later on, but he already had a tank. Steelix was incredibly strong and Steel types are very defensive Pokémon to begin with. Plus, the system had a way to increase the density of the metal coat by fusing them together like the stones. He was not surmised since it followed a similar process.

There was one difference however, the system recommended finding metals and crystals with incredibly tough compositions in order to increase the defensive capability even more. It was similar to the crystal Onix and Steelix line that was introduced into the anime early on. But the system said that if the right metals were incorporated during the evolution, it could create a monstrous Pokémon.

A similar process could be applied to scythe and scizor which excited Rex to no end. He was thinking of visiting Professor oak for many things such as getting a key stone through his connections to Kalos, and seeing if he could get titanium, adamantium and diamonds, in large quantities. Money wasn't a problem; he could just hack several banks and rob the money he needed.

He didn't want to do it, but he had no other way to get the money otherwise. He was excited to see if Scizor and Steelix would be different and if they even resembled the same Pokémon. Smiling widely, he walked by the snorlax that failed to catch his attention in the least and head towards Route 11 which connected directly to Virmilion City. He rode on his bike and trained with his Pokémon every couple of hours.

He trained with Marshadow and Growlithe predominantly since they were the two that needed it the most being the newest additions to the team. Growlithe had incredible moves for his species and wanted to make sure that he was able to use morning sun to its maximum capacity and therefore started teaching Growlithe sunny day.

Rex was grinning like a villain thinking of the faces his opponents would make when they learned that Growlithe could heal for up to half health. Marshadow would practice hand to hand combat with Rex which gave him nightmares. Machoke would shiver involuntarily every time he saw Rex training since it brought up bad memories. He pitied the poor ghost.

Machoke and Marshadow became good friends who would spar at every opportunity, Growlithe would get mad and fight Marshadow since he wanted to hang out with Machoke just as much. Machoke would look at Rex pleadingly only to receive a teasing look.

Rex enjoyed his team being so friendly with each other since they would be the leaders of the Pokémon he would later catch in other regions. Machoke was the undisputed leader everyone respected, Weepinbell was the brave friendly one, Scyther was the cold detached one, Gyarados was the arrogant and proud one, Onix was the family guy always making sure everyone was happy, Marshadow was new and was trying to find his place and Growlithe was just joyful and happy to be a part of the family.

Rex ate his food as he watched the funny dynamic and found it incredibly contrasting to his old life which was cold and lonely. He cherished what he had and Machoke's experience really hammered in the fact that he needed to try harder, it was getting to his head and it was happening constantly, he would make sure to not catch himself slacking again, not for his sake but for his pokemon's.

Machoke saw Rex's pensive look and shook his head with a sigh. He knew exactly what Rex was thinking, they were like brothers after all. Machoke himself knew that he needed to get stronger not only for himself and Rex but for the growing family that was expanding.

He turned his head to see Gyarados bullying the fish pokemon by the lake, Weepinbell attempting to stop him with a brave face, Scyther coldly watching from atop a tree, Onix who didn't know what to do, Growlithe who had a smile as he watched everything going on naively and Marshadow who was practising on a tree.

This was his family and as the leader, he needed to protect them and be their pillar just as much as Rex was their spiritual one. His was turned serious as he sat down and continued to practice his aura and energy control.

The days continued like this and soon 2 more days had gone by and there were approaching Virmilion City. Rex looked up at the setting sun and decided to camp by the roadside before making his way into the city tomorrow.

There was a lot to do there, and it would involve staying in the city for a couple of days. He also decided to change his clothes, he like what he was wearing but he decided that it was getting old. He smiled as he thought about the shopping spree but then frowned as he thought about his money situation. It seemed that he would have to go on a bank heist.

He really didn't want to do so but there was really no other choice, he was by under no circumstances going to take from other's accounts though, he was thinking about taking it from the league committee since they always had money to spare. Shaking away the thoughts he focused on the dinner he was cooking for his Pokémon before heading to bed.