"Yuli, you'll definitely become a top-level Pokémon breeder in the future!"
Rex said solemnly to Yuli.
"That's right, I think so too."
Yuki chimed in.
After a hearty lunch, Yuki once again fully integrated into the collective at Rex Farm, shedding her initial sense of detachment and becoming lively and cheerful.
In fact, this was Yuki's true nature. After leaving the orphanage, she had become the big sister figure there and had to suppress her own temperament, reminding herself to set a good example for her younger siblings and forcing herself to become more mature and responsible.
However, at Rex Farm, despite being slightly older than her boss, Rex, she didn't feel the weight of her age. In Yuki's perception, she had reverted to being the youngest, relieved of psychological burdens, and had thus returned to her natural self.
This was also one of the key reasons Yuki wanted to work at Rex Farm—besides the beautiful scenery, she could live as the person she wanted to be.
"Alright, enough praise! I might start getting arrogant!"
Yuli responded to their compliments with happiness, though she knew she still had a long way to go and needed to continue to strive.
"You two chat. I'm going to contact Professor Birch to inquire about resurrecting fossilized Pokémon."
Rex had already informed the two of his discovery of a fossilized Pokémon. Now that they knew it could be resurrected, they were curious about what kind of Pokémon could emerge from this stone.
"Hello, is this Professor Birch? It's Rex."
Rex introduced himself directly when he reached Professor Birch.
"Oh, Rex, what can I do for you?"
Professor Birch remembered Rex quite well, having tamed Machop in his backyard, which had been a bit of a trouble for him.
"Well, I recently obtained a fossilized Pokémon. I wanted to ask if you have a way to revive it."
Rex asked directly.
Knowing that these Pokémon professors were busy and disliked small talk, direct questions were the best way to communicate with them.
As for whether Professor Birch could revive the fossil, it depended on his interest in fossil resurrection research. If he was interested, then Rex believed he would be happy to have experimental material provided by him.
"Oh, you obtained a fossilized Pokémon. I'm actually quite interested in fossil resurrection. If you have time, you can bring the fossil to my laboratory, and I can help you revive the ancient Pokémon inside. However, as a condition, I'll need you to lend me the revived Pokémon for research for a while."
Upon hearing that Rex had a fossilized Pokémon, Professor Birch's eyes lit up. He had already replicated the fossil resurrection machine based on the research published by the Cinnabar Island Laboratory, but he had only successfully resurrected two fossil Pokémon due to the lack of fossil samples.
Now, with Rex able to provide a fossil, it was a golden opportunity for him.
Moreover, he could study the resurrected fossil Pokémon, infer their ancient living environment and ecological conditions based on their survival habits and physical data.
"Of course, no problem. Thank you very much, Professor Birch. I'll bring the fossil over to your laboratory once I've finished things at the farm."
Rex hadn't expected to find a breakthrough with Professor Birch. As for leaving the revived fossil Pokémon with him for a while, that was actually not a bad thing.
On the contrary, a newly revived fossil Pokémon would likely feel a sense of dislocation in this era and need some time to adapt. Keeping it with Professor Birch during this period was the best choice.
After ending the call with Professor Birch, Rex felt lighter as he walked. Being able to obtain a fossilized Pokémon was indeed excellent news for him.
After sharing this good news with Yuli and the others, Rex went back to continue expanding the artificial lake. They had dug to a depth of nearly 2 meters.
However, to ensure a lasting solution, Rex planned to continue digging until reaching the established goal.
Based on the current progress, they would likely be finished in another 3 to 4 days. After that, he would have time to bring the fossilized Pokémon to Professor Birch.
In Sootopolis City...
Rina had finally obtained the Rain Badge from the Sootopolis Gym Leader, Wallance, after challenging the Sootopolis Gym for the third time.
After a tough battle, Rina narrowly won.
"I wonder how many Gym Badges that guy has now. If he dares to stand me up, I'll make sure he regrets it!"
Whenever Rina thought of a certain unscrupulous farm owner, she couldn't help but grit her teeth. She was putting all her effort into Pokémon training, but each time she battled him, she lost. How could she accept that? The upcoming Ever Grande Conference was her chance to redeem herself.
At that moment, Rex, who was shoveling soil into a basket, suddenly sneezed. He figured he might have caught a cold from being out in the wind these days and wondered if he should use his abilities to heal himself.
"Let's keep going! We're almost done!"
Rex cheered on the Pokémon.
They had already dug more than three meters deep. Rex decided to continue digging deeper, aiming to reach a depth of four meters underground.
"Hey, Machop, why are you out here?"
Just then, Rex noticed Machop, who had been diligently digging, quickly emerging from its hole. He asked curiously.
Before Machop could respond, water began slowly gushing up from the hole it had been in.
Seeing this scene, Rex immediately understood what had happened—Machop had dug into an underground water vein, causing the water to surge upwards.
"Everyone, run up quickly! If we wait, the water will flood in!"
Rex urgently called to his Pokémon, Heracross and Sandslash.
As for Poliwhirl, it was probably delighted at the thought of splashing around in the water!
"We're done!"
Rex squatted at the shore, watching as the dug-out area filled with over a meter of water, murmuring to himself.
With the underground water surging up, they couldn't continue digging. Now, they just needed to remove the soil in the isolation layer between the artificial lakes to complete the connection, which also marked the successful completion of the excavation.
"Poliwhirl, stop playing around. Now you need to dig open that isolation layer yourself!"
Rex instructed Poliwhirl, who was still playing below.
Taking advantage of the relatively low water level at this point, as soon as Poliwhirl opened a gap in the isolation layer, the rushing water broke through, pouring into the deeper side.
In no time, all that remained before Rex's eyes was an enlarged artificial lake. The Poliwhirl inside swam happily, clearly enjoying the expanded lake.
"Now, I declare the completion of the artificial lake expansion project. Well done, everyone!"
Rex announced loudly.
With Rex's words, all the Pokémon who had participated in the excavation cheered.
It was evident that neither humans nor Pokémon enjoyed physical labor.
(End of Chapter)