Of course, Lewis couldn't possibly tell Ron to send her back right now.
Autumn was just around the corner. Aside from winter, the first few days of each season were the busiest on the farm. So even if Ron wanted to, sending Dawn back would have to wait until next week.
Ron turned his head to glance at the guilty back of Indeedee, let out a long sigh, and said, "Alright, would it be too much trouble for Emily? If it's a hassle, she can temporarily stay at the farm."
They could just requisition Indeedee's little bed—it would serve as a lesson for her.
Ron thought this, but Lewis said, "It's fine, Emily looks quite happy about it."
Dawn sized up Ron from behind Lewis.
He was slightly different from what she had imagined. She had heard his name repeatedly along the way and originally thought he would be a very unique person, but he wasn't. He just seemed like a very gentle person.
"Hello, I'm Dawn."
"Hello, I'm Ron." Ron paused, his gaze resting on Dawn's face.
Unsurprisingly, he recognized her, as well as the Piplup in her arms.
He let out another long sigh. "Then at the latest next Friday, I'll send you back, is that okay?"
"No rush," Dawn waved her hands repeatedly. "Whenever it's convenient for you is fine. I'll just take the time to look around here."
Dawn felt this place was quite interesting. Plus, having read the news about Pelican Town earlier, she now had some plans to explore it.
Anyway, she was originally on a journey without a destination, so staying anywhere a bit longer was no problem.
Besides, Emily seemed like an easygoing person—warm, cheerful, and very interesting.
After greeting Ron, the two left.
Tomorrow was the Dance of the Moonlight Jellies. Because of the holiday tomorrow, most of the Pokémon were currently staying in the house, their faces full of anticipation as they waited for tomorrow to arrive.
Another portion had gathered around Indeedee. Although they didn't say anything out loud, Indeedee, who could read minds, was almost having a breakdown. She huddled in the corner, desperately covering her horns, trying to block out all the gossip drilling into her ears.
Of course, it was to no avail.
As soon as Ron opened the door, the Rattata in the house crowded around him.
Ron petted them one by one. He looked at the brooding Indeedee across the room, opened his mouth to say something, but swallowed his words back down.
She had learned her lesson—probably.
With that thought, he decided to just let it slide gently.
Over there, Indeedee turned her head to stare at Ron, then cautiously shuffled over to the kitchen.
"Grab the ingredients from the fridge," Ron said. "Two green peppers, two potatoes, and the eggs."
So, Indeedee took them out and handed them to Ron.
At first, Indeedee was a bit uneasy, but she quickly fell back into their usual rhythm of working alongside Ron.
That was usually how family was. Although there would occasionally be arguments because someone did something wrong, no matter how angry they got, because they were family, those minor unpleasantnesses were quickly brushed aside, and life went on as usual.
Indeedee stared at Ron's profile, then buried herself in her work, cooking earnestly.
Not far away, Magearna watched quietly, tilting her head after a moment.
***
The Dance of the Moonlight Jellies finally arrived amidst the Pokémon's anticipation.
Early in the morning, Sailor scrambled out of bed, put on his sailor hat, wore his sailor suit, and happily leaned over the washroom sink to groom his fur and whiskers.
—
Because Willy had promised to take him to chase the Moonlight Jellies' migration after the festival ended, Sailor was getting fully ready for that moment.
The impact of the rumors was still ongoing, but because the three main subjects appeared completely unbothered, the Rattatas discussed it for a bit and then dropped the matter.
Although occasional strange gazes were cast his way, as long as Sailor acted natural enough, everything would naturally be forgotten.
The Rattatas were also gathered together excitedly, squeaking and chattering away.
Even though it wasn't their first time celebrating this festival.
But it was, after all, an annual festival. Plus, given the monotonous daily farm work, being able to go out and have some real fun was a bit special for them.
For this, they chipped in the pocket money they had saved up recently, waiting to head to the Saloon and the Pokémon Center later to buy a whole bunch of snacks, preparing to throw a snack party on the beach.
No Rattata could refuse to eat while doing absolutely anything. Absolutely anything!
"Ratta, ratta."
The lead Rattata pulled out a long menu list, pointing to the first item and asking:
For the Rattatas who wanted pizza—
"Ratta!"
A crowd of Rattata raised their paws.
"Ratta!"
Unanimous vote!
"Ratta, ratta."
Then how about fruit salad—
"Ratta!"
The Rattatas raised their paws again.
After a round of inquiries, aside from a few oddly flavored dishes, almost everything passed with a unanimous vote.
After calculating the total cost in its head, the lead Rattata was silent for a moment. Finally, under the squad's expectant gaze, it chose to take out a small loan from the rich Sailor of the Rattata group.
Sailor looked at those earnest gazes. On the condition that they stop teasing him about his love triangle with Indeedee and Ribbon, he lent the Rattata squad a sum of money.
Right now, Sailor couldn't help but feel fortunate that he had diligently rummaged through the trash cans, and that he had properly exchanged the things he found for money to save up.
On the other side, Indeedee was patrolling the farm alongside Magearna.
At this moment, Indeedee looked like a deputy. Although she had her hands clasped behind her back as usual, she basically couldn't give any effective orders regarding the various farm tasks anymore.
In the past, she relied on her ability to read minds to assign everyone to where they were needed.
But Magearna had this ability too, plus a calculator for a brain, allowing her to easily grasp the information of the entire farm. In this regard, Indeedee simply couldn't compete.
"Magear."
Magearna turned her head to look at Indeedee.
"Indeedee?"
"Magearna, Mag."
In truth, Magearna didn't quite understand what Indeedee was so bothered by. As a machine, the Pokémon on the farm basically couldn't bring themselves to like her the way they liked Indeedee. She usually only got along well with Shaymin, but she still offered Indeedee a few words of comfort.
Indeedee scratched her head a bit embarrassedly, indicating that she had fully learned her lesson.
"Magearna~"
The patrol complete, Magearna logged the detailed data of the farm's various supplies into her head, then turned and headed for the ranch.
Indeedee stood stunned for a moment, then decided to go make some snacks.
She hadn't walked many steps when the Rattata named Ribbon called out to her.
"Ratta." Ribbon hugged a list and stopped beside Indeedee. "Ratta, ratta, ratta!"
"Indeedee?" Indeedee stared at this snack list, then looked at the Rattata.
You want to... set up a stall?
"Ratta!"
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