"A gift for us?" Sandy asked in disbelief.
"Rattata." Sailor called out while standing on its hind legs, delivering the Saffron flowers held in its mouth into Sandy's hand, then ran to Emily and placed the Amethyst in Emily's hands.
Even without understanding the Sailor's words, Emily guessed the Sailor's meaning.
"Thank you—I will get better soon." Emily said, solemnly accepting the Amethyst from the Sailor's hands.
Time skipped ahead to Winter 13.
Emily received a call from Haley on this day.
"How have these past few days been? You haven't been crying secretly under the covers because you miss me, have you?" Haley leaned in to examine Emily's face. Seeing her expression was normal, she couldn't help but tease.
"You're the one who would." Emily rubbed her hands together and huffed.
After receiving news from Joy, she had rushed over immediately. Perhaps being too anxious, she hadn't even remembered to wear her hat and gloves on the way here, jogging all the way with her hands now somewhat frozen stiff.
It was relatively warm inside. She kept rubbing her hands together, but her gaze remained fixed on Haley's face.
"Ron and I have arrived in Coumarine City!" Haley enlarged the map on her Pokédex, pointing to one of the locations, "Right here! The Contest is tomorrow! Abigail should arrive around noon to meet up with us!"
"Noon?"
"Mm, she said she spent some time on a Gym battle in Shalour City, so she should have arrived a day earlier." Haley nodded on the other end of the call.
"She also caught a new Pokémon on the way, apparently using that Pokémon to win the battle."
As for what it specifically was, Abigail hadn't said, so Haley didn't ask.
Just as Haley was chattering away sharing her travel experiences with Emily, a young girl with her hair in a bun walked into the Pokémon Center.
She glanced over at Haley and her eyes immediately lit up.
The next instant, she appeared before Haley
"Miss—you—"
Before she finished speaking, she noticed Ron beside Haley.
"Ah—do you already have a boyfriend?"
Haley was stunned upon hearing this. Before she could say anything, the girl on the other end walked away dejectedly and sat down in a chair nearby.
A Dedenne poked its head out from the small bag hanging on her chest, looking up at the girl.
"Dedenne?"
"Didn't you say you wouldn't find a girlfriend for Clemont anymore, meow?" Meowth timely translated from the side. Before the words finished, it covered its mouth in terror, retreating several steps back and staring at that girl with wide eyes.
"It's that little brat, meow!"
"Little brat? You mean Bonnie?" Disguised James recalled.
Before the words finished, Team Rocket immediately hid in the corner.
"If she recognizes us, we can't go to Pelican Town anymore, meow."
Meowth covered its mouth and whispered
"Should we go out and hide for a while, meow?"
"She probably won't recognize us, right? It's been so long since we last saw each other." Jessie said. "Besides, even when we see each other often, if we don't actively expose our identities, they've never recognized our disguises, right?"
"That's true, meow."
"Did I just hear Meowth's voice?" Bonnie turned her head, scanning her gaze through the crowd. Not seeing anyone, she stopped her gaze on the Dedenne in her bag. She rubbed Dedenne's face with her finger and asked softly.
"We're going to travel with Serena again. You're looking forward to it too, right?"
"Dedenne~"
Saying this, Zygarde in its cell form poked out from the small bag.
"Zygarde, you're looking forward to it too?" Bonnie poked its head.
"Zygarde~"
Bonnie smiled and raised her head.
"I still remember traveling with Serena—those times were really happy."
"Dedenne."
Just as she finished speaking, the Pokémon Center door opened. Haley had just ended her call over there, turned her head, and saw Abigail running toward her.
Behind her followed that girl Haley had seen on TV before, who had shone brilliantly in the Pokémon Contest—Serena.
"Haley!" Abigail waved at Haley. Due to being exposed to wind and sun during this time, Abigail had tanned somewhat, her hair tied up neatly. Gengar floated beside her, giving Haley an exaggerated smile.
"Abigail." Haley's gaze traveled up and down Abigail's body, and she couldn't help but say: "You look like this now—it really has a bit of an adventurer's feel."
Although Abigail was usually cool, because she mostly stayed at home playing games, at most swinging a sword in the forest or exploring the mines, her face was always pale. Combined with her deliberately dyed purple hair, she looked slightly gloomy.
But now it was completely different.
"Like this?" Abigail blinked, carefreely putting her arms around Ron and Haley, and introduced to Serena. "This is Haley who I mentioned before, this is Ron. This is Serena."
Abigail pointed to Serena as she introduced.
"Hello, I'm Serena." Serena tucked the hair by her ear back, then extended her hand to the two. "Abigail always mentioned you two to me. It's nice to finally meet you—"
The four exchanged pleasantries over there. Because they weren't very familiar with each other, both Haley and Serena were somewhat awkward at the moment.
Hearing a familiar voice, Bonnie turned her head to look, her gaze landing on Serena's face.
She had just excitedly stood up when she noticed the three people beside her.
She paused and slowly sat back down in her chair.
"Serena already has new traveling companions?" she murmured, an indescribable sense of loss in her tone.
Of course, of course, she could understand all this.
The journey was long; it wasn't realistic to always be alone. Besides, Serena's personality was very likable, so it made complete sense that someone would want to travel with her.
Furthermore, she wasn't that child from back then anymore.
But Bonnie always had a sense of loss that times had changed. She took a deep breath, suppressed her emotions, then walked behind Serena with a smile.
"Serena." Bonnie softly called out to Serena.
The next instant, that girl with flaxen-colored long hair turned around as if she had heard something unbelievable.
Those azure blue eyes, the moment they met Bonnie's gaze, her pupils suddenly contracted. Then, large teardrops began flowing from Serena's eyes.
"Bonnie—long time no see." she murmured, her gaze lingering on Bonnie's face. "You've grown so much."
"But you haven't changed at all." Bonnie's suspended heart finally settled. She said this, reaching out to embrace Serena.
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