Chapter 299: Tasting and Training

"Roar!"

"Chii chii!"

In front of Bagon and Chimchar sat a plate each, containing the Sweet Honey that Rex had obtained from the hive. The golden, crystal-clear liquid looked incredibly enticing.

After taking a sip, both Bagon and Chimchar let out excited cries, clearly delighted by the taste of the Sweet Honey.

Bagon, being more impatient by nature, grabbed the plate with its little hands and gulped it down in one go. Once finished, it licked its lips with its tongue, savoring the taste and clearly wanting more.

Next to it, Chimchar was far more composed. It sipped the Sweet Honey slowly, taking its time to savor each taste. By the time Bagon's plate was already empty, Chimchar's plate still had more than half of its share left.

"Rooaar!"

Bagon glanced at its now-empty plate and then at Chimchar's plate, its envy written all over its face. It trotted over to Rex, hugged his leg tightly, and looked up at him with pleading eyes.

"There's no more! I've already given you your share for today. You'll have to wait until next time!"

Rex patted Bagon on the head and shrugged, rejecting its silent plea.

Realizing its adorable antics weren't going to work, Bagon scurried over to Chimchar and stared longingly at the half-full plate, drooling as it watched Chimchar carefully savor the Sweet Honey.

Chimchar, noticing Bagon's gaze, turned its body away and faced its fiery tail toward Bagon, making it clear it wasn't going to share.

This attitude left Bagon fuming. It huffed loudly and stomped off to sulk in a corner, regretting how quickly it had gulped down its share without properly enjoying it.

"Rex, you mentioned on the phone earlier that you had something important to talk about?"

While browsing through his call log, Rex noticed several missed calls from Rocky during the time he'd been exploring underground. He quickly dialed back and asked about it.

"Rex, are you okay? I called you multiple times but couldn't get through. I thought something had happened to you!"

Rocky's concerned voice came through from the other end of the line.

"Sorry about that, Rocky. I was on an expedition to Meteor Falls for over a month, working on a commission. There's no signal in there. I called you back as soon as I saw your missed calls!"

Rex apologized sincerely.

"Oh, I see. As long as you're safe, that's all that matters. I'm back at Muscle Island now, training under Master for the Martial Artist stage. I just wanted to check in on your progress with the All Star Fitness Body Training Technique."

Hearing Rex's explanation, Rocky breathed a sigh of relief. What mattered most to him was that Rex was unharmed.

Although Rex was technically his junior, Rocky had been the one to mentor him in his training. Over time, Rocky had come to see Rex almost as his own apprentice.

"Don't worry, Rocky. Even while exploring underground, I didn't neglect my training. I can now consistently practice the All Star Fitness Body Training Technique for about two hours a day."

"Good! I was worried you might get distracted and fall behind in your training. With your dedication, I feel reassured. Keep it up!"

"Thank you, Rocky. Talk soon!"

After ending the call, Rex noticed that Chimchar had finally finished its Sweet Honey as well. He called over both Chimchar and Bagon, preparing to train the two little Pokémon.

Training Chimchar was relatively straightforward—Rex planned to have it spar with Combusken. Both Pokémon shared the Fire-and-Fighting typing in their final evolutions, making them great partners for practice.

Of course, Combusken was currently much stronger than Chimchar. For now, its role would be more like a mentor sparring partner, helping Chimchar improve its skills.

As for Bagon, Rex knew that regular training methods couldn't match the impact of its favorite activity: its "faith jump." The act of jumping off cliffs provided Bagon with an unparalleled combination of physical conditioning and resilience training.

The only downside was that there weren't any suitable cliffs near Rex's farm for Bagon to jump from, and traveling elsewhere to find one would be inconvenient.

However, as Rex spotted a Swellow soaring in the sky, a lightbulb went off in his head—he had an idea to replace the cliffs.

He decided to have Swellow carry Bagon to a certain height, then let it jump off from its back. As Bagon grew stronger, Swellow could fly progressively higher, ensuring Bagon would continue to push its limits and refine its body.

Calling Swellow over, Rex personally guided it to the appropriate altitude before asking Bagon if the height felt suitable.

When Bagon admitted it wasn't sure about its maximum tolerance, Rex and Swellow chose a starting height similar to the cliff jump Bagon had done in the Meteor Falls depths.

Excited, Bagon eagerly leaped off Swellow's back. Its little arms flailed wildly in the air, attempting to slow its descent—but to no effect.

Because of Bagon's heavy, rock-hard skull, it quickly flipped into a head-down position, resembling a perfect diving posture, and plummeted straight to the ground under the force of gravity.

By the time Rex and Swellow landed, Bagon was struggling to climb out of the large crater it had created upon impact.

Meanwhile, Chimchar, who had been sparring with Combusken nearby, was startled by the sight of Bagon freefalling from such a great height. It hadn't expected its former sparring partner to train in such an extreme manner—jumping from that height without any form of protection!

The sheer wildness of Bagon's training left a deep impression on Chimchar. Witnessing such dedication and boldness, Chimchar resolved to take its own training more seriously.

"Chii chii!"

Chimchar turned to Combusken with a determined expression, squeaking its request.

It was asking Combusken to stop holding back in their sparring matches.

"Chaamo!"

Combusken was surprised by Chimchar's newfound determination but wasn't about to turn down its request.

From then on, Combusken sparred with Chimchar at full strength, no longer pulling its punches.

As a result, Chimchar was soon covered in injuries. Yet, despite the pain, it refused to back down, stubbornly continuing its seemingly futile counterattacks.

Noticing Chimchar's condition, Rex quickly called over Victreebel to help heal it. Although Rex felt a twinge of concern for Chimchar's battered state, he was also thrilled to see such determination.

After all, as long as Chimchar didn't collapse outright or suffer a fatal injury, Rex had plenty of ways to nurse it back to health.

(Chapter End)