Meanwhile, Serena and Bonnie were still standing there, completely bewildered.
"I thought it was supposed to be dancing with someone you have mutual affection for... and what else..." Serena muttered, looking at the boys in the crowd wearing monster masks, and most of the girls chatting in the corners.
Before the two could figure out what was going on, a mask suddenly loomed right in front of them.
"May I have the honor of a dance?" the voice said, extending a hand toward them.
The voice was somewhat familiar, but also a bit deep and hoarse, so Serena couldn't immediately recall who it belonged to.
Her gaze scanned over the mask and the suit. After a moment, she suddenly covered her mouth.
"Oh, I'm fine with it!" Bonnie immediately reached out her hand.
"And what about you, beautiful lady?" the masked person asked with a smile.
"If it's you," Serena also extended her hand, "then let's dance, Abigail."
Abigail chuckled. Beside her, Bonnie instantly retracted her hand: "Ah, it's Abigail?!"
At this moment, her hair was tied up in a neat, high ponytail. To keep Caroline from finding out she was wearing men's clothing today, she had even specially used some of the Magic Hair Gel Ron had given her before.
"How is it? Do I look handsome?" Abigail pushed up her mask and asked.
"Compared to that group of monsters—" Bonnie pointed at the blobfish and goblin wandering not far away: "Absolutely handsome."
"Only compared to them?" Abigail asked, a little disappointed.
"Very handsome." Serena placed her hand on Abigail's and spun around with her through the crowd.
"Can girls dance with girls here too?" Serena asked.
"There doesn't seem to be a rule against it," Abigail said. "As long as you're friends—slightly close friends, that is."
Serena stared into Abigail's eyes.
"In a few days, it'll be a year since we met," Abigail suddenly said.
"Has it been a year already?" Serena widened her eyes.
"By Pelican Town's calendar, yes," Abigail said. "It's really nice to have met you."
Serena had practically served as Abigail's entire life guide when it came to integrating into Kalos. She had let Abigail slowly try and fit into a region that she previously only knew through hearsay from Ron and Joy.
"Me too," Serena said, spinning another circle with Abigail.
"Who's that boy?" Sam, wearing the blobfish mask, leaned against the flowerbed with Sebastian, who was wearing the goblin mask, staring at the man dancing with Serena.
A man, presumably.
It was hard to say for sure. Even though the person had their hair tied up in a high ponytail, there were men in Pelican Town who grew their hair out long too. The hair color was also unfamiliar, but the figure was upright and well-built.
"Shame. I thought I'd get to invite that girl from Kalos."
Of course, that was just talk.
Nobody would dance with a perfect stranger on this day, not even with tourists from out of town. While you didn't have to dance with a romantic partner, dancing with a stranger was definitely out of the question. At the very least, you had to be familiar friends.
"Are we just going to stand around and watch today?" Sebastian asked.
"What else?" Sam asked. "Did you find Abigail to be your dance partner?"
In previous years, the two of them had actually danced together.
"Not exactly." Sebastian leaned against the flowerbed, pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, opened it, took one out, and then offered the pack toward Sam.
"I'll pass," Sam politely declined. "I still want to dance."
"With who?" A puff of smoke escaped the goblin's mouth.
"——Do you want to dance?" After looking around and failing to find a partner, Sam couldn't help but ask.
"No need." With that, the goblin took another drag.
The blobfish slowly covered its nose.
"The one smoking is Sebastian, right?" Leah said, adjusting her mask, pointing at the two conversing monsters not far away.
Maru took a look from afar: "If he's smoking, it's probably him."
The scene was truly comical. Leah and Maru exchanged a glance and burst out laughing.
"Are you not dancing today?" Maru asked.
"I want to," Leah said, continuing to try and identify Ron's figure in the crowd. "Haven't found a partner yet."
"Pelican Town really should pass a law banning people from wearing these stupid masks," Maru couldn't help but say.
Normally, Leah supported freedom of dress, but right now, she nodded in agreement. "Exactly, they really should pass a law!"
After searching hard for a while, she unexpectedly spotted a familiar back in the crowd. Looking closely, she recognized that person as Haley, and next to her was a man wearing a suit and a skull mask.
After observing carefully, Leah walked over with some uncertainty.
"Found a partner?"
"Yeah, I think so."
"Can you really not just take the stuff out of your pockets first?" Haley asked, staring at those pockets curiously. "What's stuffed in there? Don't tell me it's Parsnips freshly pulled from the ground."
"——A little secret." Ron used the same excuse he had used to brush off Emily.
Haley shrugged in disappointment. "Fine, then I'm going to wait for today's Flower Queen to be announced. See you later."
That being said, whether there would even be a Flower Queen this year was still up for debate. After all, compared to previous years, the scene this year was chaotic enough as it was.
Thinking this, Haley waved her hand and walked over to Emily and Sandy.
The timing was perfect; by the time Leah walked over to Ron, Haley had already left.
"Are you... Ron?" Leah asked uncertainly.
"It's me." Ron turned his head, the bizarre skull mask facing Leah. Red light glowed from inside the mask, making Leah laugh out loud instantly.
"This thing is incredibly stupid," Leah continued. "But it fits your style."
"Are you referring to the stupid part?"
"No, unexpected," Leah said. "I mean, you're always full of surprises. Would I have the honor of inviting you to dance?"
Ron immediately extended his hand to Leah.
After several rounds of dancing, even Ron, who wasn't good at dancing, was quite skilled at it by now.
"This is unexpected too."
"What?"
"You actually dance really well."
As she spoke, the two of them spun another circle among the bizarre crowd of monsters and ghouls.
"This year's Flower Queen is—" Lewis scanned the masked crowd, turned, and pointed in Marnie's direction: "This lady!"
"Me?"
Marnie widened her eyes, looking at Lewis in disbelief. She had never imagined that this honor would one day fall upon her head.
But no one raised any objections; even Haley felt she truly deserved it.
So, amidst everyone's applause, Marnie, still wearing her mask, slowly walked toward Lewis.
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