Still grumbling, Jas followed behind the two of them to the Nursery.
"Inside right now there's only Rotom and Ditto." Ron said, pulling the door open.
Jas hid behind Penny, peering in cautiously. "Isn't Rotom Abigail's Pokédex? Why is this one completely different from that one?"
Ron explained in a low voice. Penny listened for a while before involuntarily zoning out. She stared blankly at Ron's profile, and just then, something behind her vaguely tugged at her hand.
Penny turned her head but didn't find what had tugged her. Just as she was puzzling over it, a continuously waving paw poked out from a corner not far away.
"What are you doing, meow?" Meowth, involuntarily waving its paw under the propulsion of psychic power, looked at Indeedee with a speechless expression. "If you keep this up, Meowth is really going to tell on you, meow."
"In?" Indeedee looked at Meowth and called out twice.
"Then why don't you use your own paw?" Meowth asked.
"Indeedee." (Mine are too recognizable.)
"Would using my paw really make it so Ron wouldn't see?" Meowth said, peeking over to look. "Ah, Penny's coming over, is it ready?"
"Indeedee~~" Indeedee withdrew its psychic power upon seeing this, then grabbed Meowth, who was about to leave: "Indee." (I need you to translate.)
"I have to translate too, meow——that wasn't part of the agreement. What if Ron finds out?" At this, Meowth added, "Meowth hates being forced into things, meow."
"Indeedee, in?" (How do you know Ron wouldn't want to?)
"How would Meowth know if Ron doesn't want to?" Meowth tilted its head. "Because Ron looks pretty resistant to it, meow."
As Meowth said this, it suddenly noticed a rather tall shadow appear between the two of them.
Obviously, this couldn't have been cast by Penny's frame.
Which meant there was only one possibility——
"Indeedee, indee~" Indeedee, currently smugly analyzing Ron's psychology, hadn't been paying attention to the surrounding sounds.
Selectively blocking out instinctively heard voices when they weren't needed was also one of Indeedee's required courses.
"You, you say, Ron might be saying one thing but meaning another, meow." Meowth guiltily translated on Ron's behalf.
"Indeedee, indeedee, in!"
"Ah, haha, ha, this, you want this translated too?" Meowth rubbed its paws together. "Meowth heard that you can hear it yourself, meow?"
So scared that Meowth had already switched to using honorifics.
"Indeedee, in?"
Indeedee had just asked its confused question when it suddenly realized something. It slowly tilted its head up and saw Penny standing next to it, along with a smiling Ron.
"What does 'saying one thing but meaning another' mean?" Ron asked while rubbing Indeedee's head.
Because Penny was right there, he didn't feel comfortable using his mind-reading to see what was actually going on inside Indeedee's head. He could only force a smile and rub Indeedee's head.
"Um, what are you guys talking about?" Penny asked softly.
"Nothing, nothing, meow." Meowth rubbed its paws together. Under the watchful gaze of both Indeedee and Ron, it raised both paws in a gesture of innocence and slowly backed away.
"Nothing huh." Ron rubbed Indeedee's head.
"Indeedee, indeedee~"
Indeedee followed suit with a fake smile.
"I see, then——um." Penny, seeing Indeedee, was suddenly reminded of what Pam had mentioned this morning. She couldn't help but look around.
Seeing that Ron indeed didn't seem to have any intention of giving her flowers, she smiled at Ron and said softly, "Sorry for keeping you so long today. Then, you go ahead and get back to work. I'll take the kids to look around the Berry Tree orchard."
Indeedee, realizing what Penny was thinking right now, its eyes lit up in a flash.
In that case——giving her the flowers wouldn't be its fault, right?
It couldn't be helped. Indeedee was just that eager to help, just that fond of fulfilling people's wishes~
As Indeedee thought this, Ron warningly patted it on the head.
"Indee?" Indeedee looked up, confirming that Ron couldn't hear its inner thoughts before breathing a sigh of relief.
"I'll go get the kids." Ron said, turning toward the Nursery.
The instant Ron turned around, Indeedee ducked into the cabin without looking back.
"Indeedee~"
"Ah?" Penny, who was currently feeling down, turned her head unexpectedly and was surprised to see Indeedee appear in front of her, holding a bouquet of flowers.
"Indeedee~"
"For me?"
"In, indeedee!" Indeedee gestured.
"Um——because Ron is too embarrassed, so he had you give it to me?" Penny guessed at Indeedee's meaning.
"Indeedee, indeedee!"
"Thank you." Penny smiled, reaching out to rub Indeedee's head. "You must have been worried I'd be sad, right? It's okay——I know this kind of thing can't be forced."
"Indeedee?"
Indeedee looked at Penny with a bewildered expression.
Because it could hear people's inner thoughts, it clearly knew that Penny wanted a bouquet of flowers more than anything.
It knew that Penny desperately wanted to stand beside Ron, just as she had fantasized as a child about having a house of her own—craving that sense of security, craving to receive inclusive love.
But, Penny had rejected it?
Indeedee stood there blankly, holding the bouquet.
"Sometimes, you don't have to get everything you want." Penny said softly. Turning her head and seeing Ron approaching with the kids, she reached out and tucked the bouquet behind Indeedee's back.
"Of course I hope that one day he'll show up at my doorstep holding this bouquet," Penny continued. "But I don't want him to go against his own will and force himself to be with me just to make me happy, just to make me feel better."
"Indeedee?"
In the past, whenever Indeedee heard this kind of contradictory talk, it always felt that what a person truly wanted was absolutely the words in their inner thoughts.
But looking at Penny right now, it didn't seem to be that simple.
"But, since you bought this bouquet on your own in secret, I'm relieved." Penny whispered.
"Indee?"
"I want to wait for the day he figures it out on his own."
Ron would have to make a choice someday——but fortunately, that day wasn't today.
Penny thought, her heart that had been hanging high all day finally settling down.
She jogged over to stand in front of Indeedee, then took the kids' hands.
"How about Teacher takes you to tour the Berry Tree orchard next?" Penny asked. "Just now, Teacher learned quite a bit about Berry Trees from Ron——"
Penny led the kids into the Berry Tree orchard.
Ron turned his head and saw Indeedee holding a bouquet.
"Indee." Indeedee looked up, belatedly realizing it hadn't managed to retreat from the battlefield in time. It gulped: "Indeedee?"
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