After having breakfast with Sailor, Emily took him on the early bus to the desert.
Because everyone goes to the desert to play during the Desert Festival, the bus was packed.
"Morning, Emily." Gus greeted Emily, then noticed Sailor following behind her, as well as the wild flower it was holding in its paws. "Sailor is here too."
"Rattata!"
Sailor nodded.
"He's going to play with Sandy," Emily explained, setting the large bag of clothes she brought by her feet, before explaining her upcoming dress-up stall to everyone.
"Is it free?" Gus asked.
"Of course it's free," Emily said. "As long as you're willing to participate. But if you want to buy the clothes to take home, you'll still need to pay a little bit for the fabric."
Gus nodded.
"It seems like there are other food stalls at the Desert Festival this time," Clint suddenly said from the side.
"Oh, really? That's great, I haven't tasted the cooking of a restaurant other than Gus's in a long time," Emily said excitedly.
"..." Gus looked at Emily silently. After a while, Emily finally realized what she had said and laughed dryly: "I didn't mean it like that, you know that, Gus."
"...I don't really want to know," Gus said, resting his chin in his hands and looking out the window.
"But no matter how good it is, it won't be as delicious as the Saloon's!" Emily quickly added.
This eased Gus's expression a little. He turned to Emily and said, "It's fine if you want to go try it. I'm planning to try some too."
"Steal their recipes?"
"It's called knowing yourself and knowing your enemy," Gus corrected.
At this, everyone laughed.
Pam glanced at everyone through the rearview mirror, stepped on the gas, and drove toward the desert.
On the other hand, with Ron.
Ron was also planning to join in the fun at the Desert Festival, but he didn't really have any specific events he wanted to participate in.
Speaking of which, the Adventurer's Guild would be hosting a challenge in the Skull Cavern over the next few days.
The goal was to go down into the Skull Cavern as much as possible and acquire enough points.
The Calico Eggs obtained could be used as festival currency to buy things everywhere during the event.
Obviously, the warriors sent by the farm were Froakie and Bellossom, who had just rushed back from Ginger Island.
"Are you ready?" Ron asked.
"Froakie!"
"We're ready, meow," Meowth said, then added, "That's what he said, meow."
The farm work on Ginger Island was mostly wrapped up, so Ron had given them a short vacation to enjoy the Desert Festival.
"Then let's head out. I've already paid for the tickets," Ron said, handing out the tickets to everyone and waiting at the platform for Pam to return from the desert to pick them up.
"Sailor, you're here!" Sandy ran out of the Oasis shop and hugged Sailor the moment he jumped off the bus.
—
"Is this for me?" Sandy asked.
"Rattata!"
"Wow, you're so thoughtful!" Sandy hugged the flower Sailor handed her, took a deep sniff, and then looked pleasantly surprised as she carried Sailor into the shop to find a vase to put the flower in.
"Ever since the day I left Pelican Town, I've been thinking that I definitely had to invite you to come play in the desert," Sandy said, placing the flower by the vase.
The Cacnea squatting next to the vase turned its head to look at it.
"Cacnea~"
"Be good, baby. I'm leaving the shop in your care today," Sandy said, rubbing Cacnea's head, before carrying Sailor back outside.
"Where do you want to start looking around?" Sandy pulled out a handful of Calico Eggs from her pocket and asked, "Whatever you want today, it's my treat!"
Calico Eggs were the only currency circulating during the Desert Festival. They could be obtained by participating in the mine challenge or by betting on the racing competition.
Of course, there was another option: find a spot, set up a small stall, and sell some of your own things in exchange for Calico Eggs to use elsewhere.
"Rattata."
Sailor looked around with its head tilted and pointed its paw at a tent with the word "Restaurant" written on it in the distance.
"You want to eat something?" Sandy asked, carrying Sailor over there. After taking a few steps, she turned and waved at Emily. "Go set up your stall! I'm going to go play over there!"
"You're not going to help me?" Emily asked in disbelief. "I haven't even set up my tent yet, I haven't unpacked my things, and there's still so much to do—"
"No." Sandy blinked at Emily. "I'm going to spend the entire day playing with Sailor today."
"..." Emily let out a heavy hmph and turned around to start getting busy.
Seeing this, Clint couldn't help but ask, "Do you need help, Emily?"
"Are you willing to help?" Emily had just looked over in pleasant surprise when she saw that Clint had already set up his own small stall, which was piled high with coal and dusty ore.
She fell silent and shifted her gaze to Clint's hands, and then to his clothes.
Looking at the coal dust on them, she shook her head with difficulty: "Thanks for the good intention, haha, but I can actually handle it. I was just joking around with Sandy."
Her tone was a bit stiff, and Clint's gaze instantly dimmed.
"I see."
"Yeah, yeah, go get back to your work. Look, that person over there might be interested in your stuff," Emily said, randomly pointing at a passerby.
"Alright, just call me if you need anything, Emily," Clint said, sitting back down in front of his small stall.
He had deliberately chosen a spot very close to Emily's stall.
He originally thought this would be a good opportunity to get closer to her.
Thinking of this, Clint let out a long sigh.
Just then, the farm group also arrived at the desert.
Ron went to sign up Bellossom and Froakie for the Skull Cavern challenge, and then started wandering around by himself.
Walking all the way to the side of the racetrack, Ron happened to run into Penny, who was standing there.
Penny's stall wasn't scheduled until tomorrow, so if she wanted to earn some Calico Eggs today to buy things, she had to rely on some less-than-glamorous methods.
"Who are you planning to bet on?" the merchant asked, rubbing his hands nearby. "Let me introduce them to you. This is Speedy Rooster, this is Drapion, this is Boot Biscuit, this one is Lightning Snail, and that one is Cacnea."
"Hmm—" Penny hesitated, and coincidentally saw Ron walking over.
"Good morning." Ron greeted her and asked, "Which one did you bet on?"
"Me?" Penny quickly glanced at Ron and pointed randomly at the animals in a circle. "That one. Just that one."
"The Lightning Snail?" the merchant couldn't help but confirm. "If the Lightning Snail wins, you can get 100 Calico Eggs!"
Of course, relatively speaking, its chances of winning weren't that high.
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