Meowth walked out the door holding a bag full of gifts.
"Birthdays, meow. So nice, meow. Getting gifts, meow."
Meowth muttered to himself while trying to peek through a small hole in the bag to see what was hidden inside.
The bag was tied pretty securely, and from Meowth's angle, he couldn't see a thing. So, he lifted his head, recalling that he, Jessie, and the others had set their birthday as the day they arrived in Pelican Town.
Which was Winter 14.
What kind of gifts would Meowth and the others receive then?
As Meowth daydreamed and walked along the mountain path, he heard the sounds of laughing and playing not far away.
Then, a flock of parrots flew right over Meowth's head. One of them tossed a mango high into the air, only to catch it in its beak right before the kids could grab it.
"What was that, meow!" Meowth squinted and realized these were the parrots that lived on Ginger Island. He stared upward for a moment, then noticed Emily's Squawkabilly perched on a nearby tree branch.
Squawkabilly tilted its head, looking as if it wanted to join in.
But out of fear from having been rejected by a flock before, it didn't take action.
"What are you doing, meow?" Meowth asked, hugging the gift bag as he continued walking forward.
"Squaw~"
Squawkabilly replied.
"You wanna play with them, meow?" Meowth paused, looking up. "Then go for it, meow! Fly over there and catch what they're holding in their claws!"
"Squawkabilly."
Meowth felt Squawkabilly's worries were completely unnecessary. Even though Squawkabilly had indeed been rejected by a flock of parrots before, this group was from Ginger Island—they had even raised a human.
Surely they wouldn't ostracize it just for being a different kind of parrot.
"Squaw?"
"Meowth guarantees it, meow." Meowth said. He tilted his head up, about to try and communicate with the parrots on Squawkabilly's behalf, but then remembered that these weren't Pokémon. If Squawkabilly couldn't understand them, Meowth was definitely screwed.
So, he gestured for Squawkabilly to follow behind him, and trotted over to Leo with the gift.
"Leo! Happy birthday, meow! This is a gift from Ron, meow!" Meowth held out the bag, and Leo looked at it with a face full of pleasant surprise.
"From Ron?"
"Hey, that's not fair, Ron never gave me a gift!" Vincent pouted. He tried hard to remember, and realized he really hadn't.
However, Vincent didn't really have much interaction with Ron anyway. Plus, because of Penny, he still harbored a slight bit of hostility toward Ron. So, he watched with clear envy as Leo packed away his gift.
Penny stared at the bag, a little surprised. She had originally thought the duck feathers from the farm were Ron's gift, but she didn't expect him to not take credit for it at all.
This gave Penny an indescribable feeling. Because it was so ambiguous, she didn't even know if she should be happy or sad about it.
Anyway, she sat by the campfire, trying her best to put on a smile as she watched the kids playing together in the distance.
"You—" Linus felt that, theoretically, as an elder with rich romantic experience, he should step in and offer some guidance to this lost girl.
But if Linus were the type of person who could get along well with others and even develop an unforgettable romance, he probably wouldn't be out here right now.
Of course, it wasn't because he lacked the ability and fled to the wilderness, but rather because he didn't want such things. Not understanding it wasn't a bad thing for him.
"Hm?"
Penny reached out with a stick to poke the embers deeper into the fire.
"Loving someone doesn't necessarily mean you have to be together—I love the sun, but tying the sun to my side would only get me burned," Penny said, looking at the sparks. "Perhaps keeping a distance, not too far and not too close, is just right."
As long as she enjoyed the warmth without trying to monopolize it, she could remain happy forever.
Linus didn't really understand romance, but he shared this sense of open-mindedness. So, he nodded and didn't say anything else.
Meanwhile, Meowth pushed Squawkabilly in front of Leo. After learning that Squawkabilly wanted to be accepted by the parrot flock, Leo immediately introduced this special Pelican Town parrot friend to his parrot friends.
Watching Leo chatter happily with the flock of birds, Meowth nudged Squawkabilly.
"If you want to fit in with them, you might have to learn a foreign language too, meow."
"Squaw!" Squawkabilly nodded solemnly, flapped its wings, and landed on Leo's shoulder.
Seeing this, Meowth brushed off his paws and slipped away like a hero hiding his merit and fame—straight to the Saloon.
"Meowth, you're finally here!"
A cheer came from inside. Meowth pushed the door open with a brooding expression, then strolled inside.
"Where did we leave off last time?"
"Keep going, do you have any new stories—"
"Last time, Meowth was saying—" Meowth took a Piña Colada from Emily's hand with a deep, serious look, took a sip, and then continued under everyone's gaze, "The sailor, upon discovering—"
For a moment, the air inside the saloon was filled with joy.
***
The Sinnoh region.
Indeedee didn't sleep soundly at all that night. She sneezed several times, crawled out of her sleeping bag, and started making breakfast for the Wizard, all while wondering where this lingering, prickling sensation on her back was coming from.
So, the moment the Wizard opened his eyes, he saw Indeedee holding out two sandwiches and a glass of freshly squeezed juice.
"If you can't find work at the farm, just come to the Wizard's Tower," the Wizard immediately offered.
"Indeedee."
Indeedee declined. She rested her chin on his hand, wondering if the farm would still need him.
She wondered what Ron was doing right now. Was Magearna taking good care of everyone? Would something else go wrong at the farm?
"Alright." The Wizard took a bite of his sandwich and reached out to rub Indeedee's head. He couldn't help but smile as he watched Indeedee run off clutching his head, crying "Indeedee, Indee!"
Full of food and drink, the Wizard was just about to help tidy up when a new message popped up on his Pokédex.
[Beldum are gathering in large numbers for unknown reasons—Coordinates—]
"Ah." The Wizard froze for a moment, hurriedly opened the Pokédex, and confirmed the location on the map.
Teleportation couldn't be used directly in the Sinnoh region, especially not somewhere he had never been before.
After pondering for a moment, the Wizard packed up his things and said to Indeedee beside him, "Let's take a plane."
"Indeedee?"
"If everything goes smoothly, we'll arrive tonight."
"Indee?"
"And then we can head back to Pelican Town."
"Indeedee!!!" Indeedee cheered.
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