Time flashed forward to the end of the Desert Festival. Ron arrived at the Adventurer's Guild as promised to claim the Pokémon reward for reaching the 100th floor of the mines.
Before even entering the Adventurer's Guild, Ron heard a fierce argument coming from inside.
"By all rights, we should give him this!"
It sounded like Gil's voice.
"But don't you think it's too early? Compared to that, this one is much more suitable for him, right?!"
Marlon argued vehemently.
"It can also help out a lot on the farm!" Marlon continued. "It's not like he's going to challenge the Pokémon League right now anyway! We can give him the other one when the time comes!"
Before he could finish speaking, Ron pushed the door open and walked in.
Marlon and Gil both fell silent. After exchanging a glance, they quickly made a decision.
"You're here." Marlon gave Ron a cheerful greeting. Under Gil's watchful eyes, Marlon took out two Poké Balls and said to Ron, "Since you heard what we just said, I won't keep it a secret from you. There are two Poké Balls here; you can pick one."
Neither of the Poké Balls was a standard red-and-white one, which meant the Pokémon inside wasn't easy to catch, and might even be rare.
Ron's gaze lingered on the two Poké Balls. After a moment, he casually picked up one of them.
Visibly, Marlon let out a sigh of relief.
'So it must be a Pokémon that can provide labor for the farm,' Ron thought. He wasn't in a hurry to let the Pokémon out. He greeted Gil and Marlon, and was just about to leave when Marlon stopped him.
"Oh right, one more thing." Marlon pointed to the scoreboard on the wall. "See that board? It shows the current number of—uh, the number of monsters your Bellossom has killed in the mines so far. Once you hit a certain number for a specific monster, I'll give you some items you can't normally get your hands on."
Ron stopped in front of the board to take a look.
"These are the ones you've completed so far." Marlon counted them, then pulled out a pile of items and handed them to Ron.
Ron gave them a quick once-over. Among them were a Savage Ring, a Skeleton Mask, plus a rather useless Insect Head, and a Crabshell Ring.
He thanked Marlon again and turned to leave.
But before Ron could get far, Gil's voice drifted out from inside: "Don't you feel like the room is a lot cleaner now that we've cleared some of this stuff out?"
"What kind of talk is that?!" Marlon retorted loudly. "Which of those items isn't worth at least 10,000g at the Guild?! Those are my treasured collectibles!"
"If someone actually buys them, that is."
Ron's footsteps paused for a second, but he just strode away.
Upon returning to the farm, Ron set the items aside before taking out the Poké Ball.
Knowing that Ron was going to pick up a new Pokémon today, everyone gathered around, eager to see who the new member of the farm would be.
To be honest, apart from the Rotom that frequently flew around the Day-Care/Breeding Hut, the farm hadn't had any new blood in a long time.
"Rattata, Rattata." (What Pokémon is inside?)
"You're asking what Pokémon is inside, meow?" Meowth scratched its head. "Meowth doesn't know either, meow. Meowth just came back to grab supplies, meow."
"Rattata!"
Resisting its curiosity, Meowth went inside to grab this week's supplies before turning around and heading toward the beach.
Although Ginger Island were fairly rich in resources, they mostly just had Coconuts and Taro Roots, plus some unnamable fish, and a few Fiddlehead Ferns.
Because of this, they still needed to come here every week to pick up some vegetables, meat, and eggs to bring back.
Just as Meowth was about to leave the farm, it heard a burst of cheering from inside. Turning its head, it saw a silver-white figure standing there.
"So it's a Magearna, meow." Meowth turned back and was just about to keep walking when its footsteps suddenly halted. "A Magearna?!"
Back at the farm, everyone was quite happy right now—except for Indeedee.
Although they didn't know much about the Pokémon Magearna, the fact that it had barely arrived at the farm before it started taking care of everyone on its own initiative instantly won everyone over.
That is, except for Indeedee, who felt its position was about to be threatened.
"In-deed?" Indeedee stood in front of Ron with its head held high, questioning him with a resonant voice. "Indeedee!"
"——This was given to me by someone else," Ron paused before adding, "I didn't actively ask for it. You've been doing a great job with the farm work."
"In-deed?!" Indeedee put its hands on its hips, looking utterly heartbroken.
"But isn't this a good thing?" Ron couldn't help but say. "I'm actually planning to take you to Kalos with me in a while. If we can hand the farm work over to Magearna, you'll get to relax a bit too."
"Magearna~" Magearna used its mechanical arm to give Indeedee's shoulder a comforting pat.
"Indeedee!"
Indeedee furiously shook its head, then stormed out of the farm in a huff.
"——Magearna?"
Ron glanced at Indeedee's retreating figure and reached out to pat Magearna's head. "It just needs a little time to process this; it's nothing against you. I look forward to working with you, Magearna."
"Magearna!"
Magearna chimed. Magearna was originally built to manage and operate facilities like farms, so after taking a stroll around the farm, it naturally took over Indeedee's previous duties, directing the Rattata to scurry off to their respective stations.
Although it couldn't speak, since Ron could understand it, it took the opportunity to report which farm materials were running low.
"We're already out of Hops?" Ron paused, suddenly remembering. "Got it."
The brewing shed had been expanded once before, so the Hops that were supposed to last until summer had already been entirely depleted before summer even arrived.
Ron had been mulling this over recently. Now that he remembered, he pondered for a moment, then patted Magearna on the head.
"Magearna?" (Do you need me to remind you to buy Honey on Friday?)
"You even know about that?" Ron said in pleasant surprise. "Then I'll leave that to you."
"Magearna~"
Magearna gave Ron an elegant bow, then walked off toward the ranch area.
Meanwhile, the runaway Indeedee was currently wandering around town.
The pathway to Kalos could only be opened by Ron, so even if it ran away from home, wandering around town was the most Indeedee could do. At most, it could take a trip to Ginger Island.
Thinking of this, Indeedee let out a sigh.
——
"Oh my, what are you doing here?" Jodi had just returned from grocery shopping at the Community Center. Seeing Indeedee wandering aimlessly on the road, she couldn't help but call out to it.
At this time of day, Indeedee was usually hard at work on the farm. Having raised two sons of her own, Jodi instantly guessed the cause and effect.
She couldn't help but ask, "Did you have an argument with Ron?"
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