"Then I'll bet on this one too," Ron said.
"Huh?" Penny looked up at Ron. "I just pointed randomly."
"It's fine, I trust you," Ron said, confirming the start time of the race with the merchant.
Seeing that there were still thirty minutes until this round, Ron said, "I'll go look around then. I'll come back over when the race starts."
"Okay, see you later," Penny said.
Although she kind of wanted to wander around with Ron, since he hadn't invited her, she felt a bit too embarrassed to tag along. She couldn't help but just wave at him.
"See you later."
Saying this, Penny crouched down next to the pile of racing animals.
Seeing this, Ron started wandering around. Before long, he ran into Emily, who was currently battling a massive pile of clothes.
"Morning, what are you busy with?" Ron asked, looking at Emily, who was practically buried under the clothes.
"Ah?" Emily poked her head out from the pile. Seeing it was Ron, she gave a slightly awkward smile: "The tent just collapsed. I pulled all the clothes out, but it seems like the tent pegs got mixed in, and I can't find them."
Ron glanced at the tent, which now looked like a ruin, and took a few steps over to Emily. "Then let me help you."s
"Is that okay?" Emily was about to refuse, but remembering how Ron had packed the clothes last time, she felt a bit embarrassed and smiled at him. "Then I'll trouble you. Don't you have other things to do? If you do, go ahead. I'll be able to sort this out eventually if I work at it."
"No," Ron said, then changed his mind: "Well, a little. I'm planning to watch the race over there later. I bet on that Lightning Snail."
"Lightning Snail?" Emily suddenly laughed. "It doesn't sound like a winner."
"It'll win," Ron couldn't help but say.
"Then I'll leave it to you. Go watch the race as soon as it starts," Emily said, continuing to work.
Not too far away, Clint had just turned his head to check on Emily's progress, only to see her chatting and laughing with Ron as they set up the tent together, before starting to organize the clothes on the ground.
Clint watched the scene in shock, his mind full of how Emily had just rejected him.
After a long while, he took a deep breath and sat glumly in front of his stall.
"They sell ore in a place like this?" A passerby glanced at the items on the stall. "They're all dusty. I don't know who would buy them."
Hearing this, Clint felt even more depressed.
On the other side, after finishing directing the farm work, Indeedee had also come to the desert to play.
After walking around a bit and learning that Calico Eggs were needed to buy things here, it circled the venue and happened to run into Jessie, James, and a stranger in a corner.
"Just one Calico Egg to get some poor sap eliminated, meow?" Meowth confirmed.
"That's right, just one Calico Egg," the man said sneakily. "I guarantee nothing will go wrong."
"But we don't have any Calico Eggs, meow," Meowth said.
"Then what are you asking for?" The man waved his hand dismissively. "Go away, go away, don't affect my business."
Jessie and James exchanged a glance, and ultimately walked toward the racing area.
"Right, who did you guys bet on?" Seeing that Meowth was about to leave, the man suddenly called out.
"The Lightning Snail, meow," Meowth said. "I heard its win rate is really high, meow."
It wasn't really hearsay; Meowth had just heard that Penny had bet on the Lightning Snail, and the payout for a win was up to 100 Calico Eggs.
"The Lightning Snail?" The man raised his head and looked toward the racetrack.
"Indeedee?" Indeedee waved a paw at Meowth.
"Did you place a bet too?" Meowth asked, walking over to Indeedee.
"Indeedee."
"Not yet, meow?" Meowth said. "Then Meowth recommends the Lightning Snail."
Placing a bet required paying a small amount of gold. It wasn't much; after all, the reward was just festival currency that couldn't be used once they left this place.
"Indeedee." Indeedee nodded and walked over to the racetrack.
By the time Ron finished helping and walked over to the racetrack, he found the starting line already packed with people.
"Why did everyone bet on the Lightning Snail?" The merchant asked, looking at the snail in confusion.
Although the Lightning Snail paid out 100 Calico Eggs for a first-place win, its low strength made it a perpetual dark horse. Even if someone didn't know much about the race, a normal person taking one glance at the lineup of animals wouldn't pick a snail.
Even if the snail's name was "Lightning."
However, he didn't dwell on it. Seeing that the time was up, he reached out, waved his flag, and blew his whistle.
As the whistle blew, the animals took off from the starting line.
Naturally, the Speedy Rooster was in the lead, followed by Cactus Crawler. The highly anticipated Lightning Snail, meanwhile, was currently at the very back of the pack, moving forward leisurely.
"Indeedee?" Indeedee turned its head and asked Meowth.
"You're asking why I think its win rate is high, meow?" Meowth thought for a moment and said. "Because Penny chose it, meow."
Although Meowth didn't really believe anyone could be lucky all the way to the end, since she had precisely drawn the move she wanted from the move relearner twice, maybe this kind of insane luck really did exist.
"Indeedee?"
"Yeah, just because of that, meow."
Indeedee fell silent for a moment, then looked up at Penny.
Listening closely, Penny's head was currently completely filled with thoughts of Ron, who was standing next to her.
Indeedee couldn't analyze a single reason why Penny betting on that snail would make it win. It took a deep breath, wondering if it should just use Psychic to do a little something.
It sounded a bit unethical.
But Indeedee was just a Pokémon.
Why would a Pokémon need human morals?
As long as a Pokémon didn't betray its trainer, it was the best Pokémon!
With this in mind, just as Indeedee was about to secretly exert its power, Ron reached out and patted its head.
"Indeedee?"
Ron didn't answer. He turned to look at Penny, whose attention was on him, and then pointed toward the cave in the distance.
"Indeedee."
Indeedee listened to Ron's thoughts for a moment and looked over there.
Ron said that if they needed to buy anything later, they could just get the Calico Eggs from Bellossom.
There was no need to use such unethical methods.
Of course, Ron didn't feel for a second that Penny's "buff" would fail. He glanced over and unexpectedly made eye contact with Penny, who hurriedly and flusteredly looked away.
"Ah, sorry, it looks like it's going to lose." Penny looked around randomly. Noticing the Lightning Snail, which was still lingering at the very back of the track, she said, trying to make small talk: "It seems like my good luck isn't working very well this time."
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