Chapter 88: Return to the Research Institute

"You've all worked hard during this period. Take a few days to rest!"

Rex said to the exhausted Pokémons.

He especially instructed Swellow, telling it not to conduct any training with the Taillows aside from necessary patrols for the next few days.

After all, during the artificial lake expansion project, these Taillows had worked hard and deserved some proper rest.

As for Machop, this fellow didn't want to rest and still wanted to continue training. Although the digging had been tough these days, Rex had used his abilities to help them recover.

In the end, Machop followed Heracross and left. However, from Heracross's somewhat conflicted expression, Rex could tell it wanted to rest and wasn't eager to start training with Machop immediately.

Of course, they could negotiate and handle this themselves. Rex didn't want to meddle too much.

Seeing that there was nothing more to do at the artificial lake, Rex took his companion Torchic and first went to the orchard to find Polteageist, from whom he obtained the recently brewed fruit juice. There wasn't much, only about 1 liter.

However, Rex was quite satisfied with this harvest. Last time, he had only taken a few sips of Polteageist's brewed fruit juice and still remembered its taste.

Looking at the juice in front of him, Rex suddenly had an idea—to hold a banquet at the farm to reward everyone and the Pokémon who had contributed a lot to his farm.

Of course, the amount of juice in front of him was still too little. He needed to gather more over the next few days.

"Why are you back so early, boss? Is something wrong?"

It was only a little after 3 p.m. Since Rex had gone to dig the artificial lake, he wouldn't have returned until after 6 p.m., so Yuli felt it was strange to see him back so soon.

"The expansion work of the artificial lake is completed, so there's nothing for me to do there. That's why I came back early."

Rex replied.

"That's great! The Pokémon can finally have a good rest."

Yuli was also happy for the Pokémon. They had been working hard for many days.

"By the way, everything okay in the backyard?"

As Rex asked, he walked with Yuli towards the backyard.

"I've been following your plan to cultivate them, and I haven't noticed anything unusual. But just to be safe, you should check personally!"

Yuli had gained some experience taking care of the seedlings in the backyard during this time, but he couldn't be 100% certain that everything with the seedlings was perfect.

Rex inspected each seedling and found that they were all thriving, without any signs of disease or pests.

However, the Glacidea flowers were no longer seedlings. They had grown quickly, and the plants were now over 10 centimeters tall.

At this rate of growth, it wouldn't be long before these Glacidea flowers bloomed. By then, he could harvest many Glacidea flower seeds.

However, at that time, he would need to select another location to plant these Glacidea flowers.

The next morning,

"I'll leave the farm to you today. I'll come back as soon as possible."

Rex said to Yuli.

He planned to bring the fossilized Pokémon to Professor Birch. After all, resurrecting fossilized Pokémon in the real world wasn't as simple as in games.

It would likely take some time to revive them. By sending them now, they might be ready for the Ever Grande Conference.

"Boss, we'll take care of things on the farm. Don't worry!"

"Leave it to us!"

Both responded.

After that, Rex mounted Swellow, which had been waiting beside him, and flew towards Littleroot Town.

Littleroot Town wasn't too far from his farm. With Swellow's current flying speed, they would arrive in about an hour.

Since Littleroot Town was just a small town and didn't have a plaza dedicated to flying Pokémon, Rex directly had Swellow land at the entrance of Professor Birch's research institute.

After recalling Swellow, Rex went up to the door and rang the bell, then waited for Professor Birch's response.

"May I ask who you're looking for?"

Unexpectedly, a strange voice came from the doorbell.

"I'm Rex. I'm here to see Professor Birch about something we've discussed before."

Although Rex didn't recognize this voice, since they could be inside the research institute, they must be a researcher or similar staff, so he briefly explained his situation.

"Oh, Professor Birch is currently conducting an experiment and will need some time before coming out. Please wait here for a moment, and I'll open the door for you."

Before long, the door of the institute opened, and a young man in his twenties, wearing a white coat with long hair, came out.

The man also wore round glasses, giving him an intellectual and mature appearance. It was evident from his appearance that he was a researcher.

"You must be Rex. Professor Birch introduced you to me before. Let me introduce myself. I'm Joshua, and I recently became Professor Birch's assistant."

As Joshua introduced himself, he led Rex into Professor Birch's research institute.

"Please wait here for a moment. I'll go check on the progress of Professor Birch's experiment!"

Joshua brought Rex into a reception room, poured him a drink, and then left to find Professor Birch.

This was Rex's second visit to Professor Birch's research institute, but there were some differences from the first visit. The environment had become much tidier.

Previously, he had seen papers scattered everywhere and many leftover instant noodle boxes on the table, but now everything was well-organized. Clearly, this was all thanks to Joshua.

"Haha, Rex, sorry to keep you waiting. It's a bit awkward for me."

After about 15 minutes, Professor Birch and Joshua came over.

"Professor, you're too polite. I should have communicated the timing with you before coming. I hope I didn't disturb your experiment."

Rex also responded politely.

"Come out, Machop, and Torchic. Say hello to Professor Birch!"

Rex released Machop and Torchic from their Poké Balls. After all, they had both come from Professor Birch's research institute.

"Machop!"

"Torchic!"

Machop still had deep feelings for Professor Birch. After all, it had been taken care of by Professor Birch for quite some time. As for Torchic, it didn't have any memories of Professor Birch; it was just an egg at that time.

"Machop, it's good to see you. It seems you've been doing well during this time, and your strength has improved significantly. Keep up the good work in the future."

Professor Birch looked at Machop, glowing with radiance, and commented with emotion on its much stronger body.

Previously, when Machop was at the lab backyard, although it trained every day, Professor Birch could see that it was just avoiding its past and closing itself off.

After meeting again, its mental state was completely different, which made Professor Birch very pleased.

"Torchic, nice to meet you!"

After greeting Machop, Professor Birch turned his attention to the Torchic that was circling around him.

"Hold on, why is Torchic's head feathers fiery red?"

Professor Birch, who was originally interacting happily with Torchic, finally noticed the peculiarity. Among the Torchics born in his research labaratory, many were hatched, but none had fiery red head feathers like this.

"Rex, what's the matter with Torchic? Do you know?"

Baffled, Professor Birch quickly asked Rex.

"Well, I'm not sure of the specifics, but it should be related to the location where it hatched.

Torchic hatched in a place with abundant fire energy, and before hatching, it absorbed a lot of fire energy."

Rex felt that he couldn't casually reveal the details of the mountain cave in Lavaridge Town.

"Well, that makes sense. Torchic absorbed a lot of fire energy and stored the excess energy temporarily in its head feathers, which led to the change in the color of its head feathers."

After listening to Rex's explanation, Professor Birch pondered for a moment and offered this explanation.

(End of Chapter)