On the other side, Ron.
Sandy was listlessly leaning against the counter at the moment, playing with the Sandygast that was sitting on it.
Seeing Ron arrive, she waved at him: "Long time no see! Are you back from Kalos already?"
Seeing him nod, she asked with a smile, "So, did you bring me any souvenirs?"
"—" Ron fell silent for a moment, and Sandy waved her hand: "Just kidding. But if you go to Kalos next time, could you bring me back some Kalosian flowers?"
She paused, then added, "Not the kind grown in a greenhouse, I mean. The kind that grows in the wild, the nameless wildflowers."
Ron immediately agreed.
Sandy beamed: "If I didn't have to watch this shop, I'd be thinking about taking a trip to Kalos myself sometime. Of course, Pelican Town is great too— but, people should get out and see the world, right? You can't be stuck in this desert for a lifetime like those pillars over there."
Of course, that was what she said, but if you really asked Sandy to go live in Kalos or Pelican Town long-term, she probably wouldn't want to.
It was like a cactus in the desert; though it would hope for rain, it might not necessarily be able to adapt if it were placed in a rainforest.
After handing Ron the seeds he wanted, Sandy watched his retreating back and went back to playing with the Sandygast beside her.
"Sand~" the Sandygast chirped at Sandy.
After giving the birthday gift, Jessie took her leave from Evelyn's house and headed to Leah's cabin.
As soon as she reached the house, Jessie saw what looked like a tree trunk, split in half, placed at the entrance.
Because it had snowed today, a thick layer of snow had already accumulated on the trunk.
It seemed Leah was waiting for Jessie by the window again. Before Jessie could even knock, Leah eagerly pulled the door open.
"You're here!" Leah said to Jessie. "I just got the maple syrup ready! This is what I collected in the fall!"
As she spoke, she held out a jar of crystalline syrup to Jessie: "You probably don't have this way of eating where you're from, right?"
Seeing Jessie shake her head, she gave an "I knew it" expression.
"If it's you, you'll definitely love it!" Leah said, taking a pair of gloves from the nearby coat rack and handing them to Jessie: "Try them on, the size should be just right."
Hearing this, Jessie put on the gloves.
Jessie's arrival was a small surprise for Leah.
—
Although they didn't know each other that well, she had a feeling that maybe she and Jessie could hit it off.
Thinking this, Leah, holding the syrup jar, stood with Jessie in front of the wooden table that had been specially prepared.
The snow was only about a palm's thickness deep. The clear, crystalline syrup dripped from the jar onto the snow, and as it merged with the snow, it gradually thickened.
Leah then handed her a skewer and gave Jessie a demonstration.
"Like this— yeah, now you can pick it up!"
Meowth, who had come out from the farm for a stroll, spotted Jessie and Leah laughing together at a glance.
It was still snowing. The two of them seemed to be talking about something, their breath pluming in white puffs, and then Jessie burst into a fit of laughter.
"How does it taste?"
"It has a woody flavor."
"Right? I specially picked this piece of wood! Nobody else can taste it!" Leah said excitedly. "I just knew you'd be able to taste it! When spring comes, why don't we go foraging together? I can make you my special salad then!"
"Spring, meow." Meowth listened as Jessie readily agreed on the other side and slowly turned its head toward town.
Because it was wearing the boots Bellossom had given it, its paw pads weren't cold on the ground. Meowth looked at the snow on the ground, walking aimlessly.
It walked all the way to the saloon. Meowth took out a little money, thought for a moment, and turned into the saloon.
It was already afternoon. Gus had just made the fire in the fireplace a bit more vigorous when he heard the door open.
He turned his head, only to find it was that talking Pokémon from Kalos.
"Ah, you're Meowth, right? Long time no see. What would you like to try?"
"Anything is fine, meow." Meowth walked to the counter, gave a forceful leap toward one of the chairs, and sat steadily on it.
"Then try my spaghetti," Gus said with a smile. "I don't think it's anything special, but everyone says it's my signature dish."
With that, Gus went to the kitchen.
Emily had just finished all her work and came into the saloon. Seeing Meowth's back, she smiled and said hello, hung her coat on the coat rack, walked to the counter, picked up a glass, poured a glass of Moomoo Milk, and placed it next to Meowth.
"How come you're here by yourself today?"
"Because the work on the farm is done, meow," Meowth said. "Jessie and James seem to have things to do."
"No one to play with?" Emily asked.
"It's not that, meow."
Meowth felt these things were a bit hard to talk about. It took a deep breath: "I have something on my mind, meow."
The fact that a Pokémon was saying it had something on its mind inexplicably tickled Emily's funny bone. She vigorously rubbed Meowth's head and asked softly, "Then do you want to tell me about it?"
If it were a human's worries, Emily might not have been interested in listening.
But Pokémon were an exception.
She leaned in close to Meowth.
"—It's very complicated, meow." Meowth took a sip of Moomoo Milk and said with a melancholy look.
"For example?"
"Meowth doesn't know either." Meowth paused and asked, "What do you think of Ron, meow?"
"Ron, huh?" Emily said, resting her chin on her hand. "He's a good person— a very good person. Probably everyone in Pelican Town has received his help. See..."
She pointed to Snorlax, who was sleeping soundly in the corner: "That Snorlax, it could never get full at the saloon before..."
"?" Gus poked his head out of the kitchen: "Was it really pitiful enough to not be full?"
"Is being seventy percent full considered full?" Emily asked, turning her head. Seeing that Gus didn't answer, she turned back to Meowth with a smile and said, "But ever since Ron started providing the saloon with vegetables at a very cheap price, it gets to be one hundred percent full every day now."
"Is that so, meow." Meowth paused, recalling the intelligence James and Jessie had gathered before: "It seems to be true, meow— Jessie also mentioned that he seems to have provided a loan to someone, and then..."
Meowth rambled on. Outside the door, Penny happened to be passing by. She hadn't taken more than a few steps before she froze in place. She turned her head in disbelief, looked at the rambling Meowth, and couldn't help but stop in her tracks.
"Ah, so it was Ron. I knew it. Who else would randomly give Lewis a huge sum of money to lend to Pam."
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