Under Rex's care, Tailow had fully recovered to its peak condition, and it could sense that its strength had improved compared to before.
Immediately, Tailow joyfully soared around Rex.
"Alright, Tailow, you should eat something first. You must be hungry after that battle!"
After saying that, Rex took out some jerky and berries from his bag for Tailow to eat.
Then, he had time to examine the Ursaring in front of him.
Although Ursaring was covered in wounds from Tailow's attacks, Rex knew that it would soon recover.
Sure enough, after a while, Ursaring woke up. However, upon seeing the human staring at it, it slowly closed its eyes again, pretending to be dead to avoid trouble.
"Ursaring, I know you're awake. I won't harm you, but you need to take me to your cave."
Of course, this was just a bluff.
Rex knew that Ursaring had a habit of collecting items, so he planned to see if there were any good things in its cave.
Now that Tailow had fully recovered, while Ursaring was still in a severely injured state, it couldn't harm them at all.
"Roar, roar!"
Although reluctant, Ursaring ultimately surrendered, letting out a few whimpers.
In the forest, it was survival of the fittest. It had been defeated, and if the opponent wanted its life, it could easily take it, let alone just wanting its collection.
Following the limping Ursaring to a nearby tree hollow, Rex asked Tailow to keep an eye on Ursaring while he went inside.
*Cough, cough!*
It was a bear that didn't care much about hygiene, and the smell inside the tree hollow was suffocating.
After resting for a while, Rex finally had the energy to examine the situation inside the cave. The cave wasn't large, and he could see everything at a glance.
After scanning around, he finally found a pile of miscellaneous items in the corner, presumably Ursaring's collection.
After carefully searching, he finally saw a stone wrapped in flames.
"Fire Stone."
Rex immediately recognized the stone in front of him. This kind of item, which could be used for the evolution of certain Pokémon, was quite valuable!
"At least this trip wasn't in vain!"
After searching for a while longer, and not finding anything else of value, Rex left. He couldn't stand the smell inside the cave, but with this Fire Stone, he felt like he had gained a lot.
He didn't deceive Ursaring. After obtaining the item, Rex left with Tailow to continue their journey to the human town.
After the episode with Ursaring, Rex continued to walk towards the edge of the forest. Although the forest stretched endlessly, the strength of the Pokémon appearing became weaker, and their numbers decreased.
Rex knew he wasn't on the wrong path. They should be on the outskirts of the forest now, which explained the situation.
It was likely that humans often ventured into this area, whether for training Pokémon battles or capturing Pokémon, which inevitably affected the habitats of the Pokémon.
As expected, after another day's journey, the trees became noticeably sparse.
"Hey, want to have a Pokémon battle?"
Suddenly, a teenager holding a bug-catching net jumped out of the bushes and said to Rex.
This action startled both Rex and Tailow. If Rex hadn't calmed down Tailow in time, it might have already rushed over to attack the teenager.
However, despite the surprise of the teenager's appearance, Rex was actually quite excited. After all, he had been living alone for almost a month, constantly on guard against Pokémon attacks. Seeing someone of his kind now filled him with a sense of familiarity.
"Do I look like I'm in a condition to battle you?"
After a brief moment of joy, Rex said to the teenager with a grimace.
At this moment, Rex could be described as a refugee, with messy hair, torn clothes, and several plastic bottles and small packages hanging from his waist.
Indeed, he had almost run out of jerky, with only a few pieces left, so his supplies had greatly diminished.
"Uh, sorry, did you get lost?"
Only now did the bug-catching teenager notice Rex's appearance, scratching his head apologetically.
"It's okay. My name is Rex. You can call me Little Rex. I did have an accident and relied on Tailow to get out of the forest."
Rex simply introduced his situation to the teenager.
"Oh, hello, I'm Shida Kyohei. You can call me Kyohei. I'm going to be a Bug-type Pokémon master!"
The teenager, or Shida Kyohei, proudly introduced himself.
"Kyohei, can I ask how far it is to the nearest town from here?"
Rex inquired.
"The nearest one is Fallabor Town. I live there. It's probably less than an hour's walk from here."
Hearing that it would only take such a short time to reach the town, Rex couldn't help but smile. He had finally walked out of the forest that had trapped him for nearly a month.
"I need to get to the town as soon as possible. Do you want to come back with me, Kyohei?"
Out of politeness, Rex asked Kyohei.
"I don't want to go back for now. I want to continue searching to see if I can find rare Bug-type Pokémon."
Kyohei quickly waved his hand.
"Then, until we meet again. I'll be leaving now. Goodbye!"
"Goodbye, Little Rex!"
After bidding farewell to Bug-catching Kyohei, Rex walked for about an hour and finally saw a quaint town.
Although the modern atmosphere was not very strong, the greenery was well maintained.
After entering the town, the number of people increased, and various Pokémon leisurely followed their owners on the streets.
The people here were very friendly. Seeing Rex, a child dressed as a refugee, many approached to ask if he needed help.
Rex could only politely decline one by one.
However, what he needed to do now was to confirm his identity. Otherwise, without proper identification, he couldn't do many things.
After asking a passerby for the location of the police station, he immediately went there.
Because this small town was usually very safe, and there were no dark forces lurking, there was only Miss Jenny in the police station, along with her Growlithe.
Miss Jenny was visibly startled by the teenager who pushed the door open.
But after seeing Rex's miserable appearance, she couldn't help but ask:
"Young man, is there anything I can help you with?"
Then, Rex explained his situation to Miss Jenny in detail.
Miss Jenny was also very shocked by Rex's words.
Because the news of the cruise ship sinking due to weather conditions was a hot topic in the town. It was the most serious accident in recent years, with 53 confirmed deaths and 34 people missing.
Hearing about Rex's experience and seeing the boy's condition, Miss Jenny quickly believed him.
Afterward, Miss Jenny arranged for Rex to stay at the nearby Pokémon Center, bought him several sets of clothes and daily necessities, and instructed him to stay at the Pokémon Center for the time being and not to leave. She would report his situation to be verified by Slateport City.
Since Tailow was still considered a wild Pokémon, to avoid unnecessary trouble, Rex shamelessly borrowed money from Miss
Jenny to buy a Poké Ball to capture Tailow.
Now Tailow could be considered officially his Pokémon.
Tailow didn't refuse, but it didn't like being inside the Poké Ball, so after being captured, Rex always kept it outside, instructing it not to harm others or other Pokémon without reason.
After arriving at the room provided by the Pokémon Center, Rex quickly took a bath. He hadn't bathed in a long time, and he felt like his whole body was rotten.
(End of this chapter)