"Invite Ron to dance?"
Abigail didn't mind the idea, but Serena herself hesitated a little. "But I think I heard that here, only people who have mutual affection for each other can invite one another, right?"
If it were just a simple dance, Serena wouldn't have any objections. In Kalos, there were occasionally partner swaps during dances, which served as a way to meet and interact with strangers.
But since they were in Pelican Town, naturally, they had to follow the local customs.
Even though she didn't dislike Ron, it wasn't like she liked him in that way yet either.
"Indeedee, indee~"
"It says it's just an invitation," Meowth translated. "To give everyone the illusion that Ron is popular?"
"What's the point of that?" Bonnie asked curiously.
"Indeedee, in, indeedee."
"Don't you guys think it would be funny?" Even though Meowth didn't understand Indeedee's twisted sense of humor, it still translated.
"A prank?" Bonnie thought about it for a second, then raised her hand high. "I want to! I want to join in!!!"
"Kids shouldn't be doing this kind of thing," Serena said.
"But when you were even younger than me, you already liked A—" Serena instantly reached out and covered Bonnie's mouth. "Okay, we'll join, we'll join, we'll all join. Enough, stop talking."
"Mmmmph—" On the other side, Ron had just downed his drink when he felt an inexplicable chill blow against his back. He couldn't help but sit up straight, pondered for a moment, and then stood up.
"What's wrong?" James looked up and asked. He then saw Ron look back warily, followed by scanning the surroundings.
"I just feel like something's off." Ron looked around and asked, "By the way, where's Indeedee? Did you see it?"
"I think it went strolling around Pelican Town with the girls," James replied. "Said it was going to show them around town."
Ron's intuition told him this matter was mostly related to Indeedee. So he said goodbye to James and started asking around the farm for Indeedee's and Serena's whereabouts.
After some asking around, Ron found out from a Geodude and a Rattata that had just returned from the mines that the girls had gone into the mines.
——
Hearing this, Ron fell silent for a moment, then hopped into the minecart heading for the Mines.
Meanwhile, at this very moment, the group had taken the mine elevator all the way down to the 110th floor.
"Wow, it's so hot. It feels like we're about to dig right into the Earth's core," Serena said as she stepped out of the elevator and took off her coat. She then took the blanket from Indeedee's hands and turned to look at Abigail and Bonnie.
"It really is hot." Bonnie said, trotting over to the edge of the magma. The scorching magma was bubbling in the pool, with sparks occasionally leaping out from the edge.
Serena quickly pulled Bonnie back. "Alright, be careful. If you keep running around, we're going straight back to the farm right now."
Indeedee nodded along beside her.
"Okay." Bonnie stood next to Serena with a bit of regret. "So where are we going next?"
"Let's go down one more floor," Abigail said, pulling out the Monster Bestiary she had found in a crate earlier. "We just haven't seen the monster called the Squid Kid yet. Once we see it, we'll head back."
"Hmm..." Serena hesitated for a moment, but looking at Bonnie's expectant face, she compromised and nodded. "Alright... but as soon as we see the Squid Kid, we leave immediately, okay?"
"Uh-huh." Abigail nodded, walked over to the opening leading to the next floor, and took a peek inside. Then, she immediately tossed the Frog Egg down.
Seeing that the Frog Egg didn't eat anything (meaning no monsters were waiting right below), Abigail reassuredly jumped down.
"It's safe, come on down."
Before the words even left her mouth, Bonnie was already the first to scramble down the ladder.
"Coming!"
Serena gulped at the opening, but the next second, Indeedee caught her with psychic power, slowly lowering her to the next floor before following her down.
As soon as she landed, Serena sent out her Delphox. The flickering firelight instantly illuminated the surrounding cave.
The light also attracted the attention of the monsters lurking in the dark.
Even though her hand was tightly held by Serena, Bonnie still tried her best to explore everything around her. She stared intently at a Ruby attached to a rock. "Such a pretty stone, what kind of gem is this?"
"Probably a Ruby," Abigail came over to take a look, then turned her head and asked, "Do you like it?"
"I love it!" Bonnie nodded repeatedly. So Abigail sent out her Sandshrew to dig out the Ruby.
"Then I'll give it to you as a welcome gift," Abigail said, handing the Ruby to Bonnie.
"Is that really okay? It's so valuable," Serena asked.
"Valuable...?" Abigail looked at Serena in confusion. After a moment, she waved her hand dismissively. "That doesn't really count as something valuable. If we're talking about something that fetches a good price, it'd only be Diamonds, right?"
Even a Diamond was only enough to buy a lunch at Gus's saloon.
Hearing this, Serena froze for a second. Before she could react, Abigail had her Sandshrew dig out another gemstone and handed it to Serena. "Then this one is for you. If you want to get it processed, I'll take you guys to Clint tomorrow; the jewelry he makes is super pretty."
This reckless mining action immediately caught the attention of Squishy inside Bonnie's crossbody bag.
It poked its head out of the bag and looked around.
Its racial instincts made it naturally abhor actions that destroyed the ecosystem. Just as it was pondering what to say to make Abigail restrain herself, it vaguely sensed an anomaly from within this massive mine.
An indescribable anomaly.
If it had to describe it, it felt... as if this mountain possessed the ability to repair itself.
This realization made it cast its gaze once again onto that frog that effortlessly swallowed things into its mouth.
"What's wrong, Squishy?" Bonnie looked down in confusion, only to see Squishy slowly shrink back into her bag.
"What's wrong?"
"I don't know, maybe it's just curious about this place."
Before the words even finished, the Frog Egg over there suddenly shot its tongue out toward a corner.
With a weird sound, the Frog Egg instantly inflated.
This meant a monster was already approaching them. Abigail surveyed her surroundings warily, while the Gengar beside her looked much more relaxed.
"Do you feel like... there's a squelching sound coming from around us?" Serena asked, her hair standing on end as she ducked behind her Delphox.
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