Probably because he saw Jessie trying to fit into Pelican Town, Shane made an exception and spoke a little more than usual, also pointing out Leah's house to her.
"But when it comes to Jessie—" Meowth looked over at her, rushing to finish work early to make the Stuffing, and whispered to James, "Is anything she makes even edible?"
Thinking of Jessie's bizarre taste buds, James fell into a brief silence.
"Probably?" James whispered. "It's bread, right? It's hard to make it taste bad, isn't it?"
However, with Jessie working at full throttle, they managed to finish their work before noon.
"This is when Jessie is always so full of energy, meow." Meowth watched as Jessie walked out of the other chicken coop, then quickly turned its attention back to today's lunch.
After washing its hands with the Rattata, it sat at the dining table. Glancing at Jessie, who had finished her meal in a few bites and was already out the door, it couldn't help but rest its chin in its paws.
"No plans for today?" James asked.
"None, meow." Meowth said. "Maru has to work at the clinic today, meow."
"I see." James reached out and patted Meowth's head. After finishing lunch, he left to keep his appointment.
On the other side, Jessie.
This was, in fact, the first time Jessie had formally greeted Leah. But since Shane had said Leah was rather approachable, she was already at the door to Leah's house.
She rapped on the door with her knuckle, and a girl's voice came from inside.
"Just a moment~ I'm busy."
As she spoke, there were a few more crisp sounds of a knife chopping wood.
Then, a girl ran to the door and opened it.
"Good afternoon."
Hardly anyone ever came to visit her at this time of day, so Leah thought it was Ron knocking. Before she could even see who it was, she said with a smile, "What brings you here today— oh, sorry. You're the one who just moved here, Jessie, right?"
Jessie introduced herself and then explained her purpose.
"Stuffing, huh." Leah paused, then smiled at Jessie. "You came just at the right time. I specially fermented some dough yesterday, waiting to make bread today."
In winter, foraging for food in the wild was a bit difficult, so Leah would set aside some time to bake bread.
Although Gus's saloon also sold it, there was still a slight difference from what Leah made. Furthermore, Leah would specially add things like dried fruit she had prepared in the fall and hazelnut paste, stuffing them inside the bread.
Even if it wasn't fresh wild produce, the difference wasn't significant.
With that, Leah opened the door and let Jessie inside.
As soon as she entered, Jessie saw the wood piled in the corner, which had already been carved into a rough shape.
Seeing Jessie staring at it, Leah took out the dough she had placed in the corner and explained, "That's some wood Ron gave me. I'm planning to make some sculptures— um, I'm thinking of holding a wood carving exhibition in town."
"A wood carving exhibition?" Jessie asked as she looked it over.
Seeing Jessie's interest, Leah told her about how she had left Zuzu City and come here to pursue her artistic dream.
Perhaps due to their own experiences, Jessie, James, and Meowth all held great respect for those who chased their dreams.
"If it's you, you can definitely do it." Jessie walked over to Leah and patted her on the shoulder in a bold, friendly manner.
Hearing this, Leah couldn't help but smile, pressing her lips together.
The two surprisingly got along well. Putting other things aside, it seemed they even had some common ground in their artistic views.
"What a shame, then." Leah said as she kneaded the dough with Jessie. "You could have become a great performer— is that what it's called?"
Leah asked, uncertainly.
"A Coordinator?" Jessie recalled her past competing in contests. After a moment, she smiled, kneaded the dough in her hands a bit more, and said, "Actually, I don't really want to do that anymore—"
Compared to being a Coordinator or anything else, what was more important to Jessie, really, was being with James and Meowth.
Actually— it wouldn't be so bad to settle down here.
Thinking this, Jessie continued to work on the bread in her hands.
Outside the window, snow was falling heavily, and the wood in the fireplace let out crisp crackling sounds.
Leah glanced at the snow outside the window and suddenly remembered something, asking, "Tomorrow, are you free?"
"Tomorrow? If the work on the farm is done, I should be free in the afternoon." After shaping the dough in her hands, Jessie placed it in the oven and turned to ask, "Why?"
"People might find this habit a bit strange if I told them, so I've never invited anyone before." Leah turned to look at Jessie.
But since she had learned that Jessie used to eat big meals made of snow as a child, Leah figured Jessie would probably be okay with eating maple syrup on the snow.
"Tomorrow afternoon, would you like to have some maple syrup with me?" Leah said, giving Jessie a brief summary.
Unsurprisingly, Jessie agreed on the spot.
Leah paused, then gave Jessie a smile.
On the other side, Ron.
The land-clearing work on Ginger Island was more than halfway done.
Ron was currently with the Rattata, helping the Geodude clear the land on the farm.
After tossing the wood and stones to the side, Ron glanced from afar at the Walnut Room.
Since he now had over 100 Golden Walnuts, he was, in theory, qualified to enter the place. However, because he hadn't done any of the work himself and some of the Golden Walnuts were obtained through less-than-glorious means, Ron was still reluctant to pay Mr. Qi a visit.
Still, there were many items in the Walnut Room that Ron wanted to try out. So, even though he was procrastinating, he planned to check it out before leaving Ginger Island.
Speaking of Mr. Qi, one had to mention Sailor, who had drunk the milk Mr. Qi had gifted.
Based on the game's plot, Ron guessed the stuff was Iridium Snake Milk.
Its effect was comparable to a Stardrop, and it even slightly increased Sailor's attack power.
On this trip to Ginger Island, because he hadn't brought Bellossom, the low-level Rattata could only flee when they encountered the Slimes near the farm.
Only Sailor still had the strength to fight.
It had even made Sailor a bit cocky. When it went sea fishing with Willy, it even struck a guardian's pose.
But Willy didn't understand Sailor's intention; he just thought Sailor was full of longing for sea fishing, which was why it kept crying "Rattata, Rattata" at him.
Thinking of this, Ron glanced at the Walnut Room again and continued to bury his head in his work.
There was one other thing worth mentioning: after Willy and Sailor left, Ron, having enough Golden Walnuts, also restored the Ginger Island Resort.
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