The next day.
Winter 25.
Today was the Feast of the Winter Star. To draw a comparison, it was basically Pelican Town's Christmas.
Pierre dragged the decorations out of the warehouse early in the morning, moving them out one by one according to the usual inventory list.
These were technically rented by Lewis, serving as a steady source of income for the general store for the year. Because they were carefully maintained, they looked no different from new.
"Abigail—" Pierre had just opened his mouth out of habit before belatedly realizing what he was doing. His hands paused as he carried the Winter Star tree. Caroline stepped out from inside the house and lent him a hand.
"Let's go. Is this tree going in the square?"
"Yeah."
Following that little episode, neither of them spoke. They just quietly placed things where they belonged.
On the other side, Lewis was also making preparations for the Feast.
A portion of the town's taxes went toward the Feast. Of course, every household would also pitch in with some ingredients and manpower to help everyone bring the year to a perfect close.
Emily hurried out the door, said a quick hello to Lewis, who was just entering the Saloon, and jogged over to the bus stop.
The moment she arrived, the bus pulled up to a stop. Pam, sitting in the driver's seat, looked at Emily on the side of the road and couldn't help but turn to Sandy.
"How's that? Perfect timing, right?"
"Yeah, thanks," Sandy said as she got off the bus.
Haley wasn't around. Since the Feast of the Winter Star was a day representing reunion in Pelican Town, Sandy had made plans with Emily early on to spend the day with her.
Carrying specialty goods from the Desert, she hopped off the bus and caught Emily, who was lunging toward her for a hug.
"Careful, careful, you'll drop the stuff in a second! This is Fairy Rose Honey I specially ordered!" Sandy said, struggling to steady herself before hugging Emily back.
"Let's go, let's bring this stuff to Gus."
"Mhm!"
The two walked toward the Saloon. Pam didn't have any other work today either, so she parked the bus and got out as well.
From afar, she glanced over at the farm.
The farm was also full of festive cheer right now. In order to head into town to help as early as possible, the whole farm was busy finishing up the chores in the barns and coops so they could bring their supplies to town.
Ron had just stepped out of the coop. Looking at the line of Pokémon blinking their eyes at him, he waved a hand and announced that everyone could go into town to play.
"Ratta!"
Sailor was the first to cheer, and then he trotted off toward the beach.
Meanwhile, Jessie and James were at the mailbox in front of the cabin, studying the letters they had received.
"Who's Clint again?" James asked, furrowing his brows.
"I don't know—who's Jodi?" Jessie frowned as well. "We have to prepare a gift—what would she like? She's a girl, right?"
The two pondered deeply for a long while before shifting their attention to Ron.
Ron had just been about to go inside to pack up some things and head to Gus's Saloon to prepare ingredients for tonight's banquet, when he saw Jessie and James walking toward him.
"What's up?"
"We received a letter from Lewis." Jessie hesitantly handed the letter to Ron.
While Ron was reading the letter, Indeedee—who was standing off to the side with its paws behind its back, thinking about going to the Saloon to help—suddenly froze in place.
"Clint and Jodi, huh." Ron was just recalling the things they liked when his brows suddenly furrowed, as if remembering something. He turned his head and asked, "When did you receive this letter?"
"I don't know, I only noticed it this morning."
Ron fell silent for a moment, then turned to look at Indeedee, who was standing frozen like a statue.
If he remembered correctly, to give everyone time to prepare gifts, Lewis would send out letters a week before the Feast of the Winter Star to notify everyone of their gift recipient.
And a week ago, at this exact time, he had been on Ginger Island.
"Indeedee—"
Indeedee gulped, turned its head, and couldn't help but give Ron an awkward smile. It then scurried back into the house, quickly found a letter, and handed it to Ron.
"—" Ron took a deep breath, smiled at Jessie and James, and opened the letter.
"Linus, huh."
Ron looked at the name and slipped the letter back into his pocket. "Never mind, you didn't do it on purpose. Go have fun."
"Indeedee!"
Only then did Indeedee happily trot out of the farm.
"By the way, Lewis gave me a book a few days ago." Ron said as he went inside and took out Friendship 101. He had gotten this from the prize machine, using a ticket Lewis had given him. Flipping through it, he found the people they needed to give gifts to: "The gems are in that chest over there, and the recipes and vegetables are in—", Ron was about to say, but looking up at Jessie, he changed his words: "The diamonds are in that chest too. Go grab what you need."
The two thanked Ron gratefully and went over to the chest. The moment they lifted the lid, they were blinded by the gems inside.
"—James, I'm not dreaming, am I?"
James didn't say a word. He turned his head to survey the farm again, still unable to figure out how a farm of this scale could possess financial resources so vastly disproportionate to its size.
To be honest, this farm might not even be half the size of one of his family's estates, but every single gem in this chest looked incredibly expensive.
While James was lost in thought, Jessie pinched him hard.
"Ow!"
"It hurts, so I guess it's not a dream." Saying this, Jessie picked out a Diamond from the chest and found a Topaz, handing it to James.
"Next time, could you pinch yourself?" James asked.
"Who told you to zone out?" Jessie said. Looking at the fist-sized diamond in her hand, she took a deep breath: "Isn't this a bit too luxurious for a gift exchange—is he really giving these to us for free?"
"—" James stared at the ruby in his hand. "I also think it's a bit luxurious—but don't you think the things this Clint likes are a bit excessive?"
Jessie paused, recalled the row of gems and gold bars, and nodded in agreement.
But since Ron had agreed to let them use these as gifts, as Team Rocket members who had a certain code of honor among thieves, they naturally had no intention of pocketing the goods for themselves. Clutching their gems, they went back inside to wrap them up.
As for Ron, he gathered some farm fruits and vegetables, along with Linus's favorite Yams and a Blueberry Tart, packed them up, and then grabbed some more ingredients before heading to the Saloon.
On the other side, Gus, who was busy in the kitchen, poked his head out toward the entrance. He saw the farm's Pokémon, led by Indeedee, filing in one after another, carrying large and small bags of ingredients.
"—What are you guys—" Gus looked at the ingredients and couldn't help but click his tongue. "Did you ransack the farm?"
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