As expected, from now on, everyone would be able to vacation on Ginger Island via Willy's boat.
Time skipped to the next day.
The Farm.
For breakfast that day, they had all of Jessie's failed attempts at Stuffing.
The good news was that, having learned from Leah and strictly following her recipe, even her failures weren't too bad.
The bad news was that she had made too much. Even with the Rattata eating their fill, plus Meowth, James, and even Shane chipping in, they couldn't finish all the bread.
"—Maybe we should convince Jessie to stop, meow?" Meowth said, glancing at Indeedee, who was standing guard by the kitchen, watching Jessie work at the stove.
Although Indeedee said nothing, Meowth could tell something from its increasingly grim expression. After all, Meowth wasn't a fool who couldn't read the room.
"—Are our wages going to be docked?" James asked instead.
"Indee." Indeedee did answer James's question.
"It said no, meow." Meowth paused, then added, "But because she used the hazelnuts they collected, she has to make it up to them next Fall, meow."
This made both Meowth and James fall silent.
However, this also happened to give them a legitimate reason not to leave here. So, after thinking for a moment, James readily agreed with a relaxed expression.
"Indeedee, Indee." Indeedee tilted its head, looked at another batch of bread that had just come out of the oven, and frowned. "Indeedee."
"It doesn't taste the same as Leah's. Do you think it's because she's using the electric oven, meow? That's what it's saying." Meowth continued. "There's the stove Ron used to use for baking bread over there, meow. Why don't you try using that one, meow— if you make any more, we'll have to send them to the saloon to feed Snorlax, meow."
Hearing this, Jessie took the bread out, sniffed it, and handed it to Meowth.
Caught off guard, Meowth reached out and took the baking tray.
"Meow! Hot, hot, hot, hot!"
To avoid wasting it, Meowth endured the pain all the way to the table before dropping the tray onto it.
Watching Jessie go to start a fire, Indeedee, with its face full of helplessness, took the poorly made bread and the red-pawed Meowth and set off on the path toward Pelican Town.
"You're taking me to see a doctor, meow— you're truly a good person... a good Pokémon, meow." Meowth held up its two red, swollen paws and said tearfully, following behind Indeedee.
"—Indeedee." Indeedee remained silent as it delivered Meowth to the Pokémon Center, then, holding the large pile of Stuffing, arrived at the entrance to the saloon.
"Indeedee!"
With no hands to knock, Indeedee looked around, used its psychic power to find a rock, and knocked on the door twice.
"Who is it?"
A voice came from inside, followed by the sound of something heavy turning over and then the thumping of it sprinting across the floor.
"Snorlax? Where are you going? Are those monkeys back again?"
The next instant, the door opened right in front of Indeedee.
"Indeedee."
"Snooor— lax."
"Indeedee."
"SNORLAX!!!"
Snorlax excitedly hugged the huge pile of Stuffing. If it hadn't been to make way for Indeedee to enter, it probably would have sat down right there and started eating.
Gus, in his pajamas, came to the door. Having suffered a bit at the hands of those monkeys, he was even holding a stick.
Seeing that it was Indeedee, he slowly lowered the stick.
"Indeedee, oh, it's you. You gave me a scare." Gus said, then looked at Snorlax, who was in the corner feasting on the large pile of Stuffing, and couldn't help but ask, "Did you come to bring food for Snorlax?"
"Indeedee."
Forced to.
Although these things could be stored in the fridge, while they weren't bad, they weren't exactly good either. Especially after eating so much today, not only Indeedee but even the little Rattatas in the house didn't want to take another bite of it.
This was particularly because Jessie's taste buds seemed to be slightly different from a normal person's, so she would always mix in some spicy, savory things into the bread that already had dried fruit and hazelnut spread in it.
"Snoor—" Snorlax let out a cheer from over there.
"Well, thank you for that."
Although Gus didn't understand why Indeedee would specially bring food for Snorlax today, he was still grateful that Indeedee thought of Snorlax.
"Indeedee."
Indeedee waved its hand.
Gus, in turn, went to make some food and handed it back to Indeedee: "It might not compare to what you brought, but I hope you can take this back— to share with the Rattata."
"Indeedee."
Indeedee waved its hand repeatedly.
Although Gus's food was infinitely better than Jessie's failed creations, Indeedee felt a little guilty about trading for something delicious.
But because Gus insisted, Indeedee had no choice but to set off with a slightly guilty conscience.
After watching Indeedee leave, Gus glanced at Snorlax, who, having eaten its fill, had turned its head and fallen into a deep sleep.
The amount Indeedee brought wasn't actually that large. Normally, Snorlax would still need to eat some of the food scraps Gus processed before it would be full enough to fall asleep.
"Could it be some new recipe that lets Snorlax get full all at once?" Gus wondered. "I'll have to ask Ron about it later."
If there really was such a recipe, it would be a huge help.
Although the ingredients were already quite cheap, for a glutton like Snorlax, it was still a significant expense. If he could save a little more, Gus could lower the prices at the saloon a bit.
That way, more people could enjoy his cooking, and he wouldn't lose too much money.
On the other side, Ron.
The land-clearing work on Ginger Island had officially come to an end.
Ron planted some taro along the riverbank, then collected some ginger and tried planting a portion of it using the same method as for cultivating taro.
He planned to take the rest back to develop some new recipes.
With everything prepared, Ron took a deep breath and walked toward the Walnut Room.
Because in the game's plot, Mr. Qi didn't seem to approve of this kind of shortcut behavior. Although forcefully taking the golden walnut from Professor Snail, the frog statue, and so on, wasn't Ron's intention, he still felt a bit awkward now.
Arriving at the Walnut Room, Ron had just reached out his hand when he heard a voice from inside.
—
"This place only permits those who can find 100 Golden Walnuts—"
The room fell into a brief silence, followed by a long sigh.
"Fine, I'll count you as having succeeded."
Hearing this, Ron walked in in a few steps.
As soon as he entered, he saw a figure standing with its back to him, in front of a monitor screen.
At that moment, he was watching a replay of the Rattata snatching Golden Walnuts from all over the island. Although Ron wasn't sure what he was thinking, he surprisingly detected a hint of despair.
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