He was, of course, referring to that old farmer.
"Sigh— time really flies," Willy said. After seeing the two of them finish ordering, he took the menu and ordered something for himself.
"Yeah— after so many years, who knows what kind of state it's in," Gus sighed as well. He then looked over at Ron, who was chatting with Robin.
Time passes, and things are no longer the same.
Fortunately, everything that had fallen silent after that person's departure was slowly coming back to life.
"Don't tell me Ron helped with this one too, right?" Gus asked in a low voice.
Seeing Willy nod, Gus didn't know whether he should be surprised or feel that it was only natural.
"This has truly been a good year," Gus said after a long while. He then turned his head and gestured for Emily to bring two beers over to the pair.
"Thank you!"
Because they weren't very interested in Willy and Gus's reminiscing about the past, the two had sat in a corner after ordering. Seeing Emily hand them a beer, Robin took it, thanked Emily, and continued chatting with Ron.
"Speaking of which— the Flower Dance will be here again before we know it," Robin winked at Ron. "Have you thought about who you're going to invite next year?"
Seeing Ron shake his head, Robin couldn't help but give him an inquisitive look.
"But Abigail and Hailey won't be here next year—" Robin mused, propping her chin on her hand. "I wonder who the Flower Dance Queen will be this year."
"Isn't it a bit too early to be thinking about this today?" Ron held back for a moment before asking.
"Is it?" Robin couldn't help but laugh. She then lowered her voice and said, "Everyone's guessing."
"Guessing what?"
"Guessing if our town will have one more couple this year," Robin said with a smile.
"For example?"
"For example—" Robin didn't finish, but just stared meaningfully at Ron. "You know."
Feeling a chill crawl down his spine under Robin's gaze, Ron thought for a moment. "Like Marnie and Lewis?"
"How did you know about that too?" Robin was taken aback for a moment, then let out a chuckle. "Those two... if Lewis ever stops being mayor, I guess Marnie will get her wish."
With Ron's interruption, Robin started gossiping about Lewis and Marnie.
Their relationship was an open secret in Pelican Town.
But although everyone knew, they tacitly pretended to be completely unaware of it because Lewis was concerned about the matter.
After all, Lewis was a rather diligent and responsible mayor.
"Just the other day, I ran into the two of them by the bushes near the river," Robin recalled, resting her chin in her hand. "Lewis even said something about it being a night patrol and that he happened to run into Marnie."
Thinking of this, Robin laughed again.
"Honestly, even if they were together, no one would say anything. I don't know why they have to keep it a secret."
But even so, no one had ever tried to persuade Lewis.
That's just how people are. Some things may seem like trivial matters as small as dust to an onlooker, but to the person involved, they are an insurmountable mountain.
It's not something that can be easily figured out just by looking at it from a different perspective.
"Sigh." Robin let out a long sigh. Just as she was about to use a "speaking of which" to bring the topic back to Ron's love life, Emily brought over the food they had ordered.
With this interruption, Robin didn't press the issue further.
After all, when the day of the Flower Dance arrived, the answer would surely reveal itself.
Thinking this, Robin glanced at Ron, who was silently eating his meal.
Perhaps the person involved didn't quite know yet either.
Thinking this, she smiled and began to eat as well.
After dinner, Ron made his way back to the farm.
As he entered the gate, Ron turned to look at the bulletin board by the entrance and only then noticed that it was the Wizard's birthday.
Just as Ron was thinking about what gift to give the Wizard later, he saw Indeedee walking beside the Wizard, calling out "Indeedee Indee," as if saying something.
And the Wizard, whose face he couldn't see clearly, but whom he could tell was extremely happy at this moment.
"Good evening," the Wizard greeted Ron. "Thank you for letting Indeedee accompany me. This is the happiest birthday I've had in many years."
Indeedee had not only brought a gift but had also helped him clean the Wizard's Tower and even cooked him a birthday meal.
He himself could barely remember the last time he had such a grand celebration for his birthday.
"—You're welcome. Happy birthday."
"Indee!" Indeedee chimed in.
The Wizard patted Indeedee's head, turned, and noticed Team Rocket spying on him from the window of their cabin.
He paused, pointed towards the window over there, and asked, "Who are they?"
"They're working on the farm," Ron said. "Things have been a bit busy, so I hired two people from that other continent."
"I see."
Used to being alone, and on top of that, the people in Pelican Town more or less kept him at a respectful distance, the Wizard had no desire to continue the conversation. After thanking Ron once more, he immediately left the farm.
With a flash of light, the Wizard's figure disappeared from where he stood.
"Who was that, meow? A magician?" Meowth clung to the window, looking at the empty space. "Or is he like that thing in front of the fish shop?"
"I guess so— the people here— are really quite strange," James thought for a moment, then couldn't help but lower his voice and say, "Last night I was up late, and I heard what sounded like a woman's laughter outside— and then today, when I was cleaning the coop, one of the eggs had turned black."
"Did that really happen?" Jessie frowned, pondering.
"You sleep so soundly, even if she were standing right in front of you laughing, you wouldn't notice it, Jessie—" Meowth had just finished waving his hand when Jessie punched him on the head, causing him to clutch it in grievance.
"This place is really something— oh, right, I went to the Community Center with Penny today," Jessie said. "You know, the Pokémon Center. I saw a Pokémon I've never seen before in that treehouse."
Seeing James and Meowth's gazes focus on her face, Jessie couldn't help but feel smug. "You guys didn't see it, did you! It looks exactly like the hairpin the Joy here wears on her head."
"Joy?"
"Isn't that a Ditto, meow?"
"I think it's a regional form of Muk," James countered.
"It's not! It's really not!" Jessie waved her hands repeatedly. "They have arms and legs, like lines, and it seems they can use a move that other Pokémon can't."
"What?"
Jessie rubbed her chin. "I don't know either. Joy told me, it's something like turning back time."
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