"Ratta ratta!" The lead Rattata stood up on its hind legs and proudly patted its chest at Gus.
"Indeedee." Indeedee stepped forward, gathered the ingredients the little Rattatas were carrying in their mouths, and brought them all into the kitchen.
Gus glanced at them twice. Since he was busy preparing for the evening banquet, he had to tear his gaze away and get back to cooking.
Inside the kitchen, Marnie and Jodi were busy prepping ingredients, while Lewis was helping out on the side.
Seeing Indeedee bring in the ingredients, Lewis quickly stepped forward to take them. "Are these from Ron?"
"Indeedee, Indee." Indeedee shook its head repeatedly.
"It says these are from the Pokémon, meow," Meowth translated, having just walked in from the Saloon.
"I see." Lewis took them.
"Indeedee."
"Ron will bring some more over later, meow," Meowth added. "That's what it said, meow."
"He's bringing more?" Gus shot a glance over. "Then even Snorlax will get to eat until it's absolutely stuffed this year."
"Snor?" Snorlax, who was sprawled out in the corner, lifted its head.
"But not right now," Gus added.
Snorlax lay back down in disappointment, scratched its belly, rolled over, and went back to sleep.
Because Indeedee usually did the cooking at the farm, it naturally went over to help Gus. Plus, since it used Gus's recipes at the farm and could use Mind Reader, it consequently boosted Gus's efficiency by a significant margin.
"Man—that's great." Gus reached out, took a bottle of seasoning from Indeedee, shook some into the pot, and handed it back. He couldn't help but sigh. "It'd be nice if you were the Saloon's Pokémon."
"Indeedee? Indeedee!"
"It says it can't, it likes the farm, meow," Meowth said, raising its head while helping wash the vegetables.
"—Yeah, I was just thinking out loud," Gus continued. "Even though Emily has helped me out a lot—we've worked together at the Saloon for so long, but we haven't developed any real synergy."
"Hmm?" Emily, who had just dropped things off with Sandy and immediately come to the Saloon, paused in her steps.
Gus poked his head out toward the door again and said a bit awkwardly, "I was talking about Snorlax."
"Since when is Snorlax named Emily?" Sandy asked with a laugh. She then turned her head and called out, "Emily, Emily."
"Snor."
"It says it still prefers being called Snorlax, meow."
Meowth's voice drifted out from the kitchen: "It thinks it has great synergy with you, meow."
"—" Gus stiffly changed the subject. "Anyway, Sandy, what brings you here?"
"Oh, I brought some Fairy Rose Honey! And coconut, we can make special Piña Coladas tonight!" Sandy said, shaking the honey in her hand. "How about it? I specially ordered this!"
"Wow—" Gus replied exaggeratedly, then pointed to a table nearby. "Just put it there, I'll get to it later."
Hearing this, Sandy placed the honey on the table.
"So, which Emily were you actually calling?" Sandy asked mischievously.
"I thought you knew I was trying to change the subject on purpose," Gus said helplessly. "Emily is the Saloon's best employee. If she wanted, I could give her an Employee of the Year award tomorrow."
"Really? I thought it would be Indeedee," Emily said, walking in with a smile.
Indeedee quickly chimed in: "Indeedee, Indee."
"It says it doesn't want to be a Saloon employee, meow."
Before the words even fully settled, the room burst into laughter, and even Lewis joined in.
On the other side, Robin's family had finished decorating their house. After placing the Winter Star tree by the door, she clapped her hands and instructed everyone to take the tables and chairs out of the shed to bring to town.
The evening banquet would be held in the town square. Even though it was a bit cold outside this season, that was part of the fun of the Feast of the Winter Star.
Joy, bundled up tightly, arrived at the Carpenter's Shop to help.
Since no one would be visiting the Pokémon Center today, and even though the festival was in the evening, Joy made an exception and gave herself the day off.
"Thanks for the help." Robin handed a chair to Joy. Remembering the situation with Caroline, she asked, "By the way, what if Abigail calls?"
"I ran into Caroline on my way here," Joy said, holding the chair and walking beside Robin toward the town square. "The town seems mostly decorated, so I just told her to wait for the call at the Pokémon Center."
Whether the call would actually come was another story, though. After all, it was still summer over in Kalos right now.
Plus, the dates were different between the two regions. Abigail might not even remember the festival.
It was like if someone suddenly asked her right now what the nearest holiday in Kalos was—without checking a calendar, she really wouldn't be able to say for sure.
"I see."
The two happened to pass by the Community Center just then. Looking through the window, they saw Caroline sitting quietly by the machines inside, her expression unreadable.
"Sigh—" Robin sighed and continued carrying her load. "By the way, what about you? Do you miss home?"
"I'm alright." Joy thought about it and shook her head.
Even though she had been in Pelican Town for over half a year, Joy always felt like it had been less than three months. Because of that, she didn't miss home too much. After all, back in Kalos, this amount of time might not even be as long as a single school semester.
"If you ever feel lonely, come to the Carpenter's Shop anytime," Robin added. "Whenever you want, you can treat it as your second home."
Hearing this, Joy smiled and nodded.
On the other side, Ron had finished packing his gifts. After doing a final check of all the farm chores and confirming nothing was left out, he finally left the farm.
Walking along the path and just about to head to town, he spotted Linus carrying a basket.
"Morning."
Ron greeted him.
Linus poked his head out from the bushes and scratched his head a bit awkwardly.
"Morning."
"Foraging? Need any help?" Ron asked.
"Mm—no, I should be fine." Linus then shook his head. "I have to do this myself."
If someone else handled it, it wouldn't really be a gift he prepared himself.
Then again, he really wasn't confident that the person he drew for the gift exchange would actually like the things that could be found all over the mountains and fields.
"If all else fails—I'll just give dried fruit—" Linus thought to himself.
That was how he did it in previous years, but he had never seen a look of surprise on anyone's face.
Or maybe it was just bad luck, and he happened to run into people who just didn't like those things.
Although he was very grateful to Lewis for using this method to help him integrate into the town, and even having him sit next to him at the banquet...
...doing this for so many years had still left Linus feeling just a little bit awkward about it.
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