After finishing the lantern boats they were preparing to release, Ron stood up, greeted the two girls who were discussing how to spend the festival later, and headed straight over to Willy's.
Willy was currently wiping down his small boat. Sailor was standing guard next to him, occasionally helping Willy carry the tools he needed.
"Hand me that brush," Willy said. Ron casually picked up the brush from the ground and handed it to Willy.
"Ah, it's you, Ron." Willy thanked him, then used the brush to apply some oil to the boat. He took a deep drag from his pipe before turning his head to look at Ron.
"How do you have time to come see me?" Willy said. "For a festival like this, isn't it the perfect time for men and women who are interested in each other to huddle together and enjoy the tail end of summer? I heard Lewis even prepared fireworks."
Seeing Ron stay silent, Willy chuckled, patted Sailor's head next to him, and said while continuing his work, "I feel like you and Sailor are a bit alike."
"Ratta?"
In what way?
Sailor instantly stood up on its hind legs, as if hearing some high praise, waiting for Willy to award it a special badge of honor.
"When it comes to romance."
Even though he couldn't understand Sailor's speech, because they spent so much time together, Willy easily guessed what it wanted to ask. He couldn't help but laugh, "You're both equally scummy."
Sailor lay back down in dissatisfaction, even moving the oil bucket Willy needed a bit further away.
"Hahahaha." Willy laughed, casually leaning against Ron's shoulder. "In this regard, you are nothing like your grandfather. When he was your age—hm."
Willy thought about it and didn't finish his sentence. He changed the subject, saying, "You don't want to become a member of the old bachelors of Pelican Town, do you?"
"Old bachelors?"
"Yeah, Elliott, Shane, and Harvey," Willy thought for a moment and said. "If we had to stretch it, Clint would probably count too."
But the girls mostly excluded him from the list of candidates; he didn't even get a turn at the Flower Dance.
It was rather sigh-inducing.
"What are your plans from here on out?" Willy asked again. "I figure you've made almost enough money by now—of course, there's no end to making money, but what's the point of hoarding so much of it?"
"Maybe take a trip to Kalos for a while," Ron said. "I don't know. Probably after the first batch of autumn seeds is planted, I plan to hand the farm over to Magearna for a bit."
Magearna was even more adept at farm work than Ron was. Plus, with Shaymin around, Ron could take Bellossom, Froakie, and the others to participate in some Gym battles for a while.
"Some girls are going to be sad about that." Willy didn't say who. He looked at Ron for a moment before adding, "Then again, you're actually quite a bit like me."
Ron paused, then continued helping Willy tend to his boat.
***
Not far away, Leah laid out her picnic blanket, then placed some small pastries made from summer foraged goods on it.
Sandy spotted them from afar and pulled Dawn and Emily along as they ran over.
"Leah! Do you have room for us?" Sandy asked excitedly. "This is so nice! Feeling the sea breeze, and waiting for the Moonlight Jellies to migrate from this spot!"
"Of course." Leah generously agreed. So, Sandy placed the Sweet Peas she had collected all around the picnic blanket.
A sweet fragrance wafted out, mixing with the salty, fishy smell of the sea breeze. It unexpectedly carried a hint of summer.
Dawn and Emily sat down next to Penny.
Penny was a bit nervous around strangers. She hesitated, wondering if she should greet Dawn or introduce herself.
Just then, Piplup jumped down from Dawn's arms, stopped in front of Penny, and stared up at her with its head tilted back.
"Piplup, pip!"
"It's saying hello to you," Dawn smiled and said. "I'm Dawn, and this little one is Piplup."
"I'm Penny." Penny brushed her hair behind her ear. After hesitating for a moment, she reached out and patted Piplup's round head.
"Piplup, pip!"
Piplup then spun its flippers and greeted Leah.
Leah let out a chuckle and handed the dried fruit next to her to Piplup.
"I've never seen this kind of Pokémon before," Leah said. "Are they common in Kalos?"
Emily also really liked Piplup. Hearing this, she turned to look at Dawn.
"I suppose they're fairly common in Sinnoh."
"Piplup, pip!"
Piplup shook its head in mild disagreement.
"But there's only one like me," Dawn translated.
Saying this, Piplup put its flippers on its hips, tilted its head back, looking incredibly smug.
The girls all burst into laughter. With Piplup livening up the atmosphere, everyone quickly became familiar with one another. Even Penny ended up talking a lot, occasionally covering her mouth to snicker at the conversation.
***
In the distance, Evelyn watched the girls' antics. She narrowed her eyes, took a sip of tea, and said, "You should go and stay with the girls."
Jessie was currently eating a cookie Evelyn had given her. Hearing this, she glanced at the youthful girls over there. She chewed the cookie in her mouth before saying casually, "They're just a bunch of little girls."
Evelyn glanced at Jessie upon hearing this.
Although she didn't know what Jessie had experienced in Kalos—she always avoided the topic—Evelyn felt that this girl must have gone through a lot of hardship to get to where she was now. But even so, despite her casual, carefree exterior, her heart was unexpectedly delicate.
After noticing Evelyn's damaged glasses, she had specifically repaired them and left them in the mailbox without saying a word.
But Evelyn knew it was Jessie who did it.
"Would you like some more tea?" Evelyn asked, her eyes narrowing warmly.
Seeing Jessie hand her cup over, she poured her some more, then slowly leaned back in her chair.
"Wobbuffet!"
"I told you not to just pop out all of a sudden!" Jessie pulled out a Poké Ball. Just as she was about to recall Wobbuffet, it waddled "ta-ta-ta" toward the reef on the other side.
"Jeez, honestly." Jessie put the Poké Ball back in her pocket, took a big bite of her cookie, and leaned back in her chair casually. She sighed with emotion, "Holidays are great! Festivals are great!"
"Is working on the farm very hard?" Evelyn asked.
"Not really," Jessie waved her hand. "But it's nice to have some downtime occasionally."
If anything, the intensity of the work was quite low, the food was good, and occasionally they could even go to the beachside resort to bask in the sun.
Sometimes, Gus would even set up a stall at the resort, so they could eat things they normally couldn't get.
"I see." Evelyn paused, then asked, "When winter comes, during the break, would you like to come and keep this old lady company?"
Jessie, who had been comfortably lounging in her chair, sat up. She then turned to look at Evelyn.
"Can I?"
"Of course, dear," Evelyn said. "As long as you don't mind that the tea and snacks are always the same few things."
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