Upon arriving at the artificial lake, Rex noticed that the number of Poliwag seemed to have significantly increased, confirming that he had come at the right time.
If the Poliwag population continued to grow at this rate, the area of the artificial lake would need to be expanded again; otherwise, the water quality would soon become murky.
The Politoed was delighted to see Rex, bouncing around him and clapping its hands, even planning to sing a song, but Rex promptly stopped it.
"Politoed, have the numbers of Poliwag increased again recently?"
Rex pointed directly at the playful Poliwag on the lake's surface and inquired.
The Politoed looked at the lake and awkwardly nodded.
"Never mind, just retrieve some of the existing Poliwag eggs. I'll take a few eggs to sell as starter Pokémon for new trainers!"
Rex told the Politoed.
After hearing this, the Politoed agreed. After all, if the population of Poliwag became too large, it wouldn't be good for it either. Having trainers help find a caretaker for these little ones was a viable solution.
Unlike the Taillow eggs, which were placed in nests, the Poliwag eggs were buried in the sediment at the bottom of the water. If the Politoed hadn't willingly handed over the Poliwag eggs, it would have been difficult for Rex to find them even by searching in the water himself.
With a command from the Politoed, the Poliwag in the group began diving into the water. Soon, they surfaced holding several Pokémon eggs, placing them in front of Rex.
"Politoed, you don't have to give me all the Poliwag eggs. Keep some that you think have good potential to hatch yourself; this way, you can better replenish your group!"
Rex told the Politoed.
After hearing Rex's words, the Politoed thought it made sense and selected a dozen or so eggs from the pile of Poliwag eggs to have the Poliwag take back into the water for safekeeping.
Then, Rex stored the Poliwag eggs in his backpack. After a rough count, he found that there were over fifty Poliwag eggs.
With the addition of these eggs, Rex's breeding house finally escaped the crisis of closing down. Moreover, the sales of Poliwag eggs were likely not as strong as those of Taillow, so it would probably take a considerable amount of time to sell them all.
Having the Taillow eggs in stock again, Rex made a notice and posted it on the bulletin board in the central square of Spring Hua Town, emphasizing that the Taillow eggs were sold out and that he was now selling Poliwag eggs.
Although Rex felt that Poliwag were not as good as Taillow as starter Pokémon, he still priced the Poliwag eggs at 20,000 alliance coins. He feared that if the price was set too low, the breeding house would soon have to shut down again.
In the following days, customers continued to come in, though not with the same explosive enthusiasm as when the Taillow eggs were on sale. Still, several Poliwag eggs were sold each day.
Most customers first inquired about the replenishment time for Taillow eggs, clearly favoring Taillow as their children's starter Pokémon.
Rex didn't mind this too much; as long as the Poliwag eggs were selling, the timing didn't matter.
He believed that once this batch of Poliwag eggs sold out, there would be another batch of Taillow and Poliwag eggs to replenish the stock.
With sales at the breeding house back on track, Rex shifted his focus to the construction of the glass greenhouse. Since he now had sufficient funds, he decided to raise the budget for the greenhouse construction to 600,000 alliance coins, significantly increasing the construction area compared to his previous plans.
This was equivalent to Rex investing most of the profits from selling the Taillow eggs, making it the largest financial investment project for Rex's farm to date.
After negotiating with Uncle Henry, Rex found a plot of land next to the buildings of the Hoppip for the construction of the glass greenhouse. He even wanted the Hoppip to live directly in the greenhouse, but he would have to wait until the construction was completed to see if they would accept such an arrangement.
Due to the large area required for the greenhouse, Uncle Henry estimated it would take more than half a month to complete, even with him recruiting some additional workers to assist with the progress.
Having worked with Uncle Henry many times before, Rex had a good understanding of his character and abilities, so he entrusted the entire project to him and would only conduct the final inspection.
Uncle Henry was also very pleased to have such a large project, and to not let Rex down for trusting him, he was determined to ensure that the glass greenhouse was built to the best quality possible.
Since the construction of the glass greenhouse required a lot of materials, Rex prepaid 300,000 alliance coins as a deposit, with the remaining 50% to be settled once the construction was completed and Rex approved the quality.
Soon, a large number of metal supports were delivered to Rex's farm. These metal frames would serve as the primary support structure for the greenhouse, and once the frames were erected, high-hardness glass would be used to fill the walls.
Since the construction site was relatively close to the Hoppip's living area, Rex specifically reassured the slightly startled Hoppip, explaining that once the greenhouse was completed, they could reside there.
Having reluctantly accepted Rex's explanation, the Hoppip began to gather in groups to observe the construction of the greenhouse.
Uncle Henry and the construction workers didn't mind this; in fact, the antics of the Hoppip added a lot of fun to their work.
During this period, Rex's Chimchar had also graduated from its juvenile phase. He decided to have Chimchar train alongside his Combusken for basic training, believing that physical fitness was the foundation for a Pokémon's strength improvement.
The skills Chimchar had mastered so far were Scratch, Leer, Ember, and Fire Punch. Chimchar had directly learned Fire Punch after seeing a Machoke use it, which surprised Rex.
After testing, Rex found that Chimchar's Fire Punch was more powerful than its current strength level. This led him to consider the possibility that Chimchar's ability might be the hidden ability Iron Fist.
The Iron Fist ability increases the power of punching moves by 20%, so for Chimchar's future training, Rex planned to focus on punching skills while using other skills as a supplement.
However, since Chimchar had just graduated from its juvenile phase, it needed to undergo basic training to strengthen its physical fitness before it could begin learning and practicing skills.
What pleased Rex was that Chimchar showed no aversion to basic training and diligently followed Combusken for exercises.
During this time, four of the Combee larvae had also matured into adult Combee. With their addition, the construction of the Combee hive sped up considerably.
To quickly cultivate a Vespiquen, Rex allowed the female Combee to consume honey, promoting their growth faster.
If Rex hadn't instructed them, the female Combee wouldn't have dared to consume the honey on their own. This was due to the rules of their group; in the minds of these Combee, only the Vespiquen and larvae were entitled to enjoy honey.
(End of Chapter)