Leah paused for a moment, then seeing those pairs of eyes staring at her, she quickly agreed.
Cheers erupted in the room once again.
Meanwhile, since Ron had mentioned beforehand that the Pokémon would be staying in the desert a bit longer during this period, causing Pam's off-duty time to be slightly later, Penny had been coming to pick Pam up from work these past few days.
"Clef, Clefable~"
Clefable held Penny's hand, stepped out of the trailer, glanced at the dim streetlights in the distance, and immediately used Dazzling Gleam; a soft glow emanated from its body.
Penny rubbed Clefable's head and said softly, "It's okay not to use it now. We don't know how long we'll have to wait later."
"Clefable !" Clefable thought for a long moment upon hearing this, then tightly gripped Penny's hand, deciding to use Dazzling Gleam only when they left town and reached the path to the farm.
Penny smiled, reached out to close the trailer door, and walked with Clefable towards the bus stop.
—
Today was already Fall 19th, meaning the new house construction could start in five days. Penny was practically counting on her fingers for that day to arrive.
Previously, because the bed was small and the trailer space wasn't large, Clefable was mostly kept inside its Poké Ball, or it would run off to stay at the library on its own.
Now finally, it could sleep together with her.
Just like when they were children.
Thinking this, Penny couldn't help but show a smile.
From afar, as they were about to approach the path leading to the bus stop, just when Clefable was about to use Dazzling Gleam, it suddenly noticed that there seemed to be some light shining faintly over there.
It paused, looking up at Penny.
As soon as they entered the path, Penny immediately noticed the streetlights installed along the road. The streetlights extended all the way to the farm. Probably considering that Penny might wait for Pam at the platform, streetlights were installed near the ticket booth as well.
Soft warm yellow light shone above the ticket machine.
Penny paused for a moment, her hand unconsciously tightening.
Although this hurt Clefable a little, it remained quiet without making a sound.
Their friendship from childhood let it roughly know what Penny was thinking, so it just quietly accompanied Penny.
Until Penny recovered her senses, leading it to slowly stop by the platform.
The autumn wind was bleak, but surprisingly, Penny didn't feel cold at all. She stood there quietly, eyes cast down, and after a while, she pressed her lips together and showed a smile.
Time turned to the next day.
Probably because they were quite interested in the wild fun activity of finding hazelnuts together and making hazelnut butter, by the time Ron got up, the Rattatas in the house had already gone out.
Opening the fridge door to confirm they had eaten breakfast before setting off to work, Ron paused, then turned to look at Indeedee sitting quietly on a chair eating breakfast.
"Aren't you going?"
"Indeedee."
Indeedee shook its head.
Foraging was probably a racial talent for Rattatas; Indeedee didn't like this. Compared to finding hazelnuts in the forest, it preferred staying in the Barn and Coop, taking care of those clumsy animals.
Or harvesting grass, patrolling the Preserves Shed, checking various resources, and if anything was missing, assigning Rattatas and Geodudes early to replenish them. In short, it loved managing things.
Of course, this was also the main reason the farm had never lacked wood and stone.
Ron didn't say anything else, sat on a chair nearby, and ate breakfast.
Although relaxing in the wild with them wasn't a bad idea, Ron really didn't have time right now.
It would be much better in winter. When work slowed down, maybe he could take the Pokémon to find Snow Yams and Winter Roots in the snow.
Thinking this, Ron finished breakfast and got up to busy himself.
Just as Ron was burying his head in harvesting grass, he saw from afar the Rattata brigade led by Sailor, marching grandly into the farm from outside.
Probably through cooperation, the morning work was finished early. Without even asking Ron's permission, they took it upon themselves to grab various foraged items from the box, along with Driftwood they found, plus some wood chopped down previously, and marched grandly past Ron, heading towards Leah's house.
"Where are they going?" Robin asked curiously.
"They agreed to go play at Leah's house yesterday." Ron paused, looking at each Rattata who had groomed themselves carefully, even wearing the woolen hats bought at the exhibition recently, and added, "They went to give gifts."
Hearing this, Robin laughed immediately.
Ron didn't mind these things; anyway, they wouldn't sell for much money. Being used for social exchanges between Pokémon, it didn't matter. So he buried his head in work again.
The leading Sailor was the only one not wearing a woolen hat.
This was because the sailor suit Sandy gave it came with a navy hat, which Sailor loved dearly, and the woolen hat didn't match its outfit well.
Even Rattatas had certain requirements for their outfits.
Holding the Driftwood fished out from the Crab Pot today, it quite meticulously knocked on Leah's door with its knuckles.
Hearing the sound, Leah hurriedly opened the door, then saw the orderly arranged Rattatas, and a long row of woolen hats.
After a moment, she chuckled softly and opened the door wide: "Please come in, have you eaten breakfast?"
Sailor wrinkled its nose, sniffed around, and smelling that Leah had specially made delicious food for today, it lied without conscience and shook its head.
"Then first—oh my." Leah looked at her not-so-large table, hesitated for a moment, then found a picnic blanket: "Then wait for me a bit. After I finish making it, let's eat by the lake."
Today was a sunny day; later when the sun came out, it wouldn't be too cold by the lake.
Sailor nodded, then solemnly placed the Driftwood it brought into a basket nearby.
"Is this a gift?"
"Ratta!"
Sailor stood on its hind legs, bowed quite gentlemanly towards Leah, then walked forward two steps.
Leah was about to say something when she saw every Rattata lining up neatly, then somehow producing small gifts from somewhere, and placing them neatly into the basket.
By the time the basket was stuffed full, Leah didn't know whether to feel moved by this or find this dramatic scene amusing.
She rubbed each Rattata's head one by one, then turned to find a picnic basket, packed the prepared breakfast plus dried fruits to eat if hungry in the forest later, and led the Rattatas towards Cindersap Forest.
------------------------------------------------------
40+ Chapters Ahead: patreon.com/EphemeralShadow
There's something for free patrons too! Free Patrons receive 1 chapter in advance :)