"Come on, Torchic, you can do it!"
Rex cheered on Torchic as it ran forward with effort, dragging two stones behind it.
"Alright, Torchic, take a break for now!"
Encouraged by Rex, Torchic finally completed its designated goal.
At that moment, Swellow suddenly landed on the open ground beside him, flapping its wings against Rex, then pointing towards the distant sea.
"Uh, Swellow, did you discover something?"
Following Swellow's indication, Rex looked in the direction but didn't see anything unusual, so he couldn't help but ask curiously.
Following Swellow's gesture, Rex climbed onto its back and was then carried towards the indicated direction.
Arriving in the sky, Rex looked into the distance but could only see a black dot on the surface of the sea in the distance. However, as Swellow approached, he finally saw clearly that it was a motorboat about 10 meters long.
However, the motorboat was in bad shape, surrounded by many Sharpedos. The Sharpedos were ramming the motorboat, and several young trainers who looked like trainers were commanding their Pokémon on board, trying to drive away the surrounding group of Sharpedos.
"Swellow, let's go back first!"
Realizing the urgency of the situation, Rex quickly directed Swellow to turn back. Faced with this situation, it was best to let Flaaffy intervene, trying to disperse the Sharpedo group with its powerful Electric-type moves.
Back on the beach, Rex gathered his Pokémon, briefly explained the situation to them, returned them to their Poké Balls, and then rode Swellow back to hover over the motorboat.
By now, the motorboat was shaking violently under the Sharpedos' attacks. If rescue operations were not carried out quickly, there was a danger of it capsizing.
"Swellow, use Air Slash continuously to temporarily drive away these Sharpedos from the motorboat!"
Rex commanded.
Responding to the command without hesitation, Swellow directed several Air Slashes towards the Sharpedos that were closer to the boat.
The Sharpedos that suddenly encountered attacks from above were startled. Coupled with the pain in their backs, they quickly submerged into the water, hesitant to resurface.
Taking advantage of this moment, Rex quickly had Swellow land on the deck of the motorboat.
"Young man, thank you for coming to our rescue!"
An elderly man, known as Mr. Briney, bald with a white beard but strong in physique, directly expressed his gratitude upon seeing Rex.
Mr. Briney had once been a sailor who had ventured across all seven seas. After retiring, he lived a leisurely life every day. It wasn't until one day that Wingull, flew to him and accompanied him, rekindling his youth. In order to sail again, he built a motorboat called the Peeko.
Of course, now Mr. Briney wasn't primarily focused on making money but rather enjoyed the thrill of navigating the seas with the motorboat. He felt that he couldn't live without the sea for the rest of his life, and as long as his body could support it, he would continue.
Today, Mr. Briney received a commission from three Pokémon trainers who needed to sail to Dewford Town. So after picking them up on time, he set off with the motorboat.
Originally, Mr. Briney had run this route many times without any major problems. However, this time, luck was particularly bad, encountering a migrating group of Sharpedos.
Sharpedo was known as the tyrant of the sea, terrifying and notorious. It was aggressive, cunning, and intelligent, the king of the seas. It had teeth capable of crushing iron plates, and broken teeth could regenerate quickly. Alone, it could tear a large oil tanker to pieces.
Any vessel entering its habitat would inevitably be attacked. Moreover, it had a keen sense of smell for blood. Once it caught the scent of prey, it would swim at speeds of up to 120 kilometers per hour using water sprayed from its ventral fin.
For Sharpedo, as soon as it encountered a vessel, it would immediately launch an attack. Hence, the situation that occurred today, but fortunately, Mr. Briney and his group were lucky that Swellow discovered them, which led to Swellow notifying Rex of the situation.
"Can the boat still be started now?"
Rex took advantage of the gap before the Sharpedo group launched an attack, asking.
"It can, but if the boat's speed is too fast, it's easy for the Sharpedos to find an opportunity to capsize it from the side."
Mr. Briney responded.
"That's great. Head in that direction, where there's a beach. The motorboat can temporarily dock there. I believe that once we reach there, the Sharpedos won't bother us for too long!"
Rex explained.
The location of that beach was relatively secluded, and vessels generally followed specific routes. Deviating from these routes could lead to running aground and sinking, so Mr. Briney wasn't aware of the beach's existence.
Of course, if it weren't for Flaaffy's temporary assistance in driving away the Sharpedo group, they wouldn't have been able to reach the beach. They would likely have been capsized on the way there.
"Thank you for the rescue!"
"Thank you so much!"
Only now did the trainers who had been commanding their Pokémon to drive away the Sharpedos relax slightly and thank Rex one after another.
*Bam!*
At this moment, the motorboat had just started up, and the impact from the Sharpedos came again. However, Rex had Flaaffy waiting on the side to directly electrocute it.
As the motorboat proceeded slowly, whenever a Sharpedo dared to ram the motorboat or showed a tendency to do so, Flaaffy would launch an electric attack against it.
To avoid making too many enemies with the Sharpedo group, Rex only allowed Flaaffy to use low-power electric shocks, causing them to feel pain but not lethal damage.
As for making enemies, Rex wasn't worried. After all, he rarely ventured out to sea. However, Mr. Briney might have some trouble in the future, likely to be retaliated against by the Sharpedos during future voyages.
The Sharpedos that had been electrocuted by Flaaffy basically didn't dare to continue ramming. This ensured the motorboat's normal operation.
Soon, they arrived in the sea near the beach. However, the Sharpedo group seemed unwilling to give up, still closely following behind the motorboat, but they didn't launch another attack.
After Mr. Briney anchored the motorboat, Rex had Swellow individually take them to the beach. Once they reached the beach, they were truly out of danger because, after all, as fearsome as the Sharpedos were in the sea, they couldn't come onto land.
After seeing that the prey had landed, the Sharpedo group and Rex's group confronted each other for more than 10 minutes before turning around and leaving. As for whether they really left, Rex couldn't guarantee.
By this time, Rex finally had the opportunity to converse with the four individuals.
From their conversation, he learned that Mr. Briney had been hired by the three trainers—Kai, Drake, and Luna—to sail them to Dewford Town. It just so happened that they encountered a migrating group of Sharpedos on the way, and Rex understood the situation afterward.
As for the three young trainers heading to Dewford Town for Gym challenges, Rex also learned some basic information about them.
Kai, a simple-dressed, strong-bodied youth, was 15 years old this year and liked Rock-type Pokémon, partnered with Geodude.
Drake, a bespectacled, student-like youth, was 14 years old this year, partnered with Mudkip, and had recently graduated from the Trainer School. He was currently on a journey to challenge the Ever Grande Conference and had already obtained three Gym Badges.
Luna, a black-haired girl, was 13 years old this year, and she was a very gentle girl, partnered with Roselia. She traveled with Drake and dreamed of becoming an excellent Coordinator.
(End of Chapter)