Regarding the arrival and departure of Ralts, Rex treated it as a small episode in life and didn't think much of it.
In the following days, he became busy again, directing the Pokémon around.
Rex wasn't in a hurry to develop the terraced garden, so he only spent half a day working on it. However, the progress of the garden development was not slow, and he believed it would be completed in a few days.
After all, their farm already had a mature excavation process, and as long as Sandslash didn't slack off, everything would proceed smoothly.
During the remaining time, Rex was also busy. He spent most of his time with Torchic and the newly captured Pokémon.
Magikarp and Feebas had adapted to the environment of the artificial lake. Although this area was designated for the Poliwhirl tribe, they didn't drive away other water-type Pokémon from the lake.
So Magikarp could still find many of its kind here, but Feebas wasn't as lucky. However, it had lived as a fish before, so it didn't feel it was a big deal.
Rex didn't neglect their training. After coming to Rex Farm, he provided them with sufficient energy cubes. The collision training between Magikarp and Feebas also continued.
He believed that with this accumulation and consumption, Magikarp and Feebas would definitely become stronger quickly.
As for Torchic, Rex focused on weight training for it. However, he added a new training project: battling against Carbink.
For the rock-type Pokémon Carbink, its fire attacks were originally halved in power, and combined with its terrifying defenses, Torchic's current strength couldn't cause much damage to it.
However, Carbink's attack skills weren't very strong either, which laid the foundation for balancing the strengths of both sides. Only when one side made a significant breakthrough in strength would this balance be broken.
Rex found it quite amusing to watch them scrape each other while training. During their leisure time, Yuli and Yui would also come over from time to time to watch their battles.
Even the Hoppips that liked to stay in the backyard came over to cheer them on. When both sides were almost exhausted, they would considerately replenish Grassy Terrain to help them continue the battle.
At this moment, Rex seemed to hear the thoughts of Torchic and Carbink, "Thank you guys for your hard work. I was just about to take a break, but you've forced me to work overtime."
Just when the atmosphere on the field was the most intense, a green figure suddenly appeared in front of Rex.
"Ah, Ralts, are you here to play again?"
Rex was instinctively startled, but when he saw it was Ralts, he relaxed and smiled at it.
"Wow, so cute!"
Yuli and Yui, who were also startled, couldn't help but shine their eyes when they saw Ralts.
"As expected, Ralts's charm is universal. No one can dislike such a cute creature."
Rex silently thought while looking at Yuli's enthusiasm for the Pokémon.
In the midst of their interaction, Rex suddenly heard a somewhat aloof female voice behind him.
This surprised him, and when he turned around to look, he found a girl a few years older than him. The most impressive thing about this girl was her almost cloak-like golden long hair.
"A psychic!"
Seeing the Haunter suspended in mid-air, Rex knew that this girl must be a very powerful psychic. Only someone like her could silently appear behind him and directly restrain the Haunter trying to warn him.
"Hello, could you please release Haunter first?"
Rex said to the girl in front of him.
If the other party still refused to release Haunter, then they would be enemies, and he wouldn't be polite anymore. Someone who intruded into his farm for no reason and made actions that could lead to misunderstanding couldn't be dealt with politely.
Upon hearing Rex's words, the girl in front of him didn't respond, just calmly observing him.
For a moment, the atmosphere became somewhat off. The Torchic and Carbink, who had been practicing together, also stopped tacitly.
When the atmosphere had become tense, Ralts, who sensed something was wrong, instantly moved next to the girl and spoke to her.
In the end, persuaded by Ralts, the girl released the psychic restraint on Haunter.
Now free, Haunter knew the girl in front of him was formidable, but it firmly stood between Rex and the girl, preventing the Trainer from being harmed by her.
This girl was Caitlin, one of the Elite Four of the Unova Region. She had recently come to Slateport City for vacation. The reason she came to Hoenn was that people here knew little about her, allowing her to enjoy her rare vacation more freely.
And the reason she appeared at Rex Farm was that Ralts had been using Teleport frequently to leave her sight lately. Although Ralts occasionally left when they were in the Unova Region, it wasn't as frequent as now, nor did it last as long. So today, she deliberately tracked Ralts here.
Caitlin thought someone might be deliberately enticing her Ralts. She had encountered many such people during her time in the Unova Region, as Pokémon were relatively simple-minded. As long as someone treated them well, it was easy to gain their favor.
Based on this impression, she had just used her psychic powers directly to control Haunter, intending to give Rex and the others a warning.
However, after communicating with Ralts through telepathy, Caitlin learned the whole story. She realized that it wasn't someone trying to kidnap Ralts deliberately; it was just that Ralts was greedy, wanting to come here to beg for food by being cute. That's why it sneaked over to the farm.
"I'm really sorry for just now. I was a bit rude!"
Although Caitlin was somewhat arrogant, she was willing to take responsibility for her mistakes.
"Ah, is this Ralts your Pokémon?"
Rex had originally planned to call his Pokémon to fight, but this sudden turn of events caught him off guard. He could only use conversation to ease the tension.
"Yes, I'm Caitlin. I tracked this child here, thinking it might have been lured by bad people, so I made the mistake just now. I'm truly sorry!"
Caitlin explained the misunderstanding to Rex, not wanting to cause any unnecessary misunderstandings.
As far as Rex knew, Caitlin was born with powerful psychic abilities. If her emotions got out of control, it could lead to uncontrollable psychic powers, causing massive destruction. However, based on her performance just now, he believed she could control her abilities now.
"I see. Since it was a misunderstanding, let's forget about it. Miss Caitlin, would you like to come in for a drink?"
Rex didn't really want to stay with someone as terrifying as her, but since she had come to his farm, he couldn't directly drive her away. So he could only politely invite her.
"Sure, thank you!"
Caitlin actually saw through Rex's insincere invitation and knew he wanted her to leave quickly, but how could she be so easily dismissed!
(End of Chapter)