Jodi then noticed the look Indeedee was giving her. She couldn't help but smile at Indeedee, and then began to examine this Pokémon she had never seen before.
Although its appearance was a bit strange, it wasn't too off-putting. It was certainly better than those squishy, caterpillar-like bugs Vincent always caught from the wild.
It didn't look very aggressive, and it seemed like it wouldn't eat much. It even had two mushrooms growing on its back, which unexpectedly made it look a little appetizing.
Realizing what she was thinking, Jodi quickly banished the thought. She smiled at the Pokémon named Paras and said softly, "Then welcome to our family."
"Paras~" Paras waved its little pincers at Jodi.
As for Indeedee, it breathed a sigh of relief for this Pokémon egg it had once abandoned.
Since it doesn't have hands, it won't become a servant.
Thinking this, Indeedee stepped forward and patted Paras on the head, letting out a meaningful cry: "Indeedee."
Consider yourself lucky.
"Paras~?"
"Indee, Indeedee." Indeedee headed back to the kitchen with a profound look, continuing its work.
After dinner, Jodi's family took Paras home, taking the new addition quite well. On the way, they even stopped by the Community Center to ask Joy for advice on how to care for a Paras before finally heading home.
Indeedee also quickly got used to the fact that the new arrival, Magearna, had taken over the farm's various chores.
Although it still walked around with its hands behind its back, patrolling the farm just like Ron did, most of its energy was now redirected toward the cooking work that Magearna wasn't good at.
Since it occasionally went to Gus's place to "steal" some culinary skills, the farm's meals had improved significantly lately. Even the farm's Rattata had gotten noticeably chubbier.
Only Froakie, because it still had to engage in high-intensity mining with Bellossom, hadn't experienced any changes to its physique yet.
In the blink of an eye, it was the day before the Flower Dance.
As usual, Lewis sent a letter informing Ron about tomorrow's Flower Dance.
This day had finally come.
Ron looked at the invitation in his hands in despair and slowly sat down by the door.
"..."
To be honest, he still hadn't figured out how things had gotten to this point.
Thinking this, Ron let out a long sigh.
Beside him, Indeedee sat down next to Ron, mimicking him by letting out a sigh of its own, and chimed with a profound "Indeed."
"..."
"Indeedee, Indeedee."
"I don't understand." Ron waved his hand and stood up abruptly. "Don't you have work to do?"
"Indeedee!" Indeedee pointed at Magearna, who was directing the Rattata in their work not far away, chiming as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Fine," Ron said. "Then I have work to do. I'm leaving."
With that, Ron left the farm directly.
He rubbed the Rabbit's Foot in his pocket, pondering his strategy for tomorrow.
If this were a game, he wouldn't have these kinds of troubles. After all, in the game, no matter who you invited as your dance partner, it wouldn't change anything for the others.
Of course, the main reason was that, thanks to Indeedee, he had inadvertently heard the girls' inner thoughts.
Meanwhile, at the farm.
Thanks to its mind-reading abilities, Indeedee was in a great mood as it prepared lunch in the kitchen.
Although the thought sounded a bit malicious, Indeedee just loved teasing Ron in this regard.
Maybe it was because Ron was human? Indeedee wasn't sure. Regardless, Pokémon certainly wouldn't agonize over romantic matters like this.
Meowth, of course, was the exception.
In short, once human inner thoughts involved romance, they would become rather bizarre. Occasionally, there was even the possibility that their inner thoughts were lying to themselves, which Indeedee found exceptionally amusing.
"What's for lunch today, meow?" Meowth pushed the door open and walked in, rubbing its paws together as it asked.
"Indeedee, Indeedee, In."
"So much good food, meow?" Meowth immediately got excited and went over to Indeedee's side to act as its sous-chef. "By the way, are you going to the Flower Dance tomorrow, meow?"
"Indeedee!"
"You're going too, meow." Meowth said. "But Meowth doesn't have a dance partner, meow."
"Indeed?" (What about Magearna?)
"Magearna?" Meowth paused. "Although it definitely wouldn't say no, if I had a choice, I'd still rather have a cat-related Pokémon as my partner, meow."
"Indeed." (I'm not dancing.)
"You're not dancing? That's such a shame, meow. It's such a rare festival, meow." Meowth said, shaking the water off the washed vegetables and placing them on the prep plate nearby.
Indeedee skillfully took the plate and started cooking, while simultaneously pondering how to stir up some trouble for Ron tomorrow.
It couldn't be helped! When people are idle, they want to do inexplicable things. Let alone a Pokémon!
If anyone was to blame, it was Magearna for stealing its steward job!
"I'm sorry," Meowth apologized first, then said cautiously, "But your smile looks really sinister right now, meow."
"Indeedee?"
"Pretend I didn't say anything, meow."
At this very moment, in Kalos.
Serena's group was still heading toward Anistar City, the location of the next Gym.
Abigail held her Badge case, examining it over and over, and then said happily, "Just two more Gym Badges, and I'll qualify for the Pokémon League!"
"Congratulations, congratulations," Haley congratulated her flatly.
Abigail raised an eyebrow. "It can't be helped that your progress is slow. Whose fault is it that our group has two Pokémon Coordinators competing in Contests at the same time?"
"That's not what I'm upset about," Haley said, feeling a bit sour. "Tomorrow is the Flower Dance, you know."
"The Flower Dance? Is it already time for the Flower Dance?" Abigail was taken aback. She glanced at the date, calculated for a moment, and let out a gasp. "It really is! Then Emily is definitely going to win this year, right?"
"What's the Flower Dance?" Bonnie asked. "Is it a festival from your area?"
Hearing this, Abigail explained the tradition to Bonnie and Serena.
"Flower Dance Queen, huh." Serena thought for a moment. "Sounds like it could be really interesting."
"Right? Haley used to win it every year," Abigail said. "But I don't really like it much, to be honest."
It wasn't that she hated dancing; she just purely disliked wearing that long white dress.
But Caroline wouldn't allow her to wear a masculine suit or her usual denim jacket. It was so boring.
Thinking this, Abigail tucked her Badge case away. "You'll have plenty of chances to show off at the Pokémon Contests, so stop thinking about that."
She said this and was just about to comfort Haley a bit when she noticed something flash by in the woods not far away.
"What's wrong?"
Serena noticed and quickly asked.
"——I don't know." Abigail stared at the woods. "It feels like something is over there. Could it be a wild Pokémon?"
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