Ron felt his eyebrow twitch. He quickly grabbed Maru, who was about to step forward to investigate the malfunction, and pulled her back.
Stumbling from the pull, Maru was just about to explain the situation to Ron when she saw him step sideways to shield her.
The next instant, an explosion rang out from behind them.
Immediately after, a streak of light shot toward them. Ron quickly raised his hand and caught the Rotom that had been flung out of the motor.
"—The robot's design—did you learn it from Clemont?" Ron asked.
"Ah—" Maru slowly came back to her senses and pushed up her glasses. "The Lumiose City Gym Leader? He did help me out a lot."
"—" Ron fell silent for a moment, letting out a hiss due to the stabbing pain in his back.
"Are you hurt?" Maru realized it instantly and quickly looked toward Ron's back.
Ron shifted to hide his back, then glanced at the knocked-out Rotom in his hands. After a pause, he said, "I'm fine. Let's take it to the Pokémon Center first."
"Okay." Maru still looked worriedly at Ron's back, but since he was purposely hiding it, she couldn't get a look.
However, looking past Ron, she did see that the explosion had killed two crops in the greenhouse.
Guilt welled up in her heart.
"I should have planted Powdermelons," Maru said as she reached out to take the Rotom from Ron's hands. "Thanks for your hard work too."
The Rotom was still unconscious, so naturally, it couldn't respond to her.
She hurriedly rushed to the Pokémon Center together with Ron.
Joy had just finished organizing the fruits and vegetables on the shelves when she saw the two running toward the Pokémon Center.
"Good morning—did something happen?" Joy asked as she walked over to meet them.
"Rotom—there was a mishap with my experiment, and it's unconscious now." Maru handed the Rotom to Joy. Joy took it, gave it a brief examination, and carried it into the treatment room.
On the way, she glanced sideways and unexpectedly caught sight of a trace of blood on Ron's back.
"Are you okay, Ron?"
Only when she said this did Maru's attention shift back to Ron's back.
"You two should go to the clinic first," Joy said. "I'll take care of Rotom here."
"Thank you," Maru said, anxiously pulling Ron toward the clinic.
Though she said "pulling," she was only tugging at the hem of his shirt. She didn't dare touch him anywhere else, terrified that her carelessness might worsen his injury.
"I'm sorry—that robot was working perfectly fine at home."
That was why she figured it would easily adapt to the farm environment as well.
After all, the farm had helped her out a lot during the robot's development.
Including providing the metal ingots and battery packs.
If she had to gather them herself, it would have taken a lot of effort. She could have bought them from Clint, but the prices were a bit over budget for a part-time nurse.
"It's fine," Ron said through gritted teeth.
He vaguely remembered the game's storyline regarding Maru's robot creation.
The robot Maru eventually built not only gained self-awareness but even developed a desire to explore the universe on its own—
Otherwise, Ron never would have felt at ease letting Maru experiment in the greenhouse. If he had thought there was a chance of failure, he would have grabbed some Frostmelon seeds to test out in the snow.
Which meant the problem lay with Clemont.
"Next time—" Ron paused. "When it comes to building machines, don't trust Clemont too much—"
He practically said this through gritted teeth.
Fortunately, the robot's explosion hadn't damaged the Ancient Fruit Ron had planted.
Because it took nearly a whole season to mature, even with the growth buffs from the Fairy Rose and Shaymin, the Ancient Fruit had only just borne fruit and wasn't ripe yet.
If it had been blown up this time, getting another Ancient Seed in the future would be entirely up to luck.
"But—isn't Lumiose very advanced?" Maru pondered. "I thought their technological level was far ahead of ours."
"The technology there and the people there don't always equate—" Ron couldn't help but reply.
"Even if he calls it a groundbreaking, era-defining invention."
"Don't believe him."
As they spoke, the two arrived at the clinic.
Maru wasn't on duty today. Harvey was at the counter reviewing everyone's medical records. Seeing the two arrive, he pushed up his glasses in mild surprise.
"What happened here?"
"Just a minor accident," Ron answered before Maru could speak. "I hurt my back a bit, but it's nothing serious."
"Go lie down on the examination bed over there, and I'll apply some medicine for you," Harvey said, pointing to the nearby bed. "Give me a moment."
Seeing this, Maru stepped in to man the counter for him. While Harvey was rummaging through the medicine cabinet, she lowered her voice and said, "Use the 1000g one. Deduct the cost from my paycheck."
"Hmm?" Harvey looked at Maru in surprise, then turned his head to glance at Ron in the back room, pushing his glasses up again.
Harvey's gaze made Maru feel a bit uncomfortable.
Because just yesterday, she had been wearing that exact same gossipy expression when discussing with Joy, Robin, and the others about who Ron would invite to the Flower Dance. Even she could instantly realize what Harvey was thinking.
She couldn't help but explain, "I'm the one who injured him. The experiment had a little accident."
"Oh." Harvey pushed his glasses up once more, picking up the medicine bottle with a hint of disappointment. "Should I give you an employee discount, then?"
"No need—if you keep giving out discounts, your clinic is going to go bankrupt," Maru waved her hand, then hurried Harvey into the treatment room.
Harvey walked in with the medicine bottle and instructed Ron to lift his shirt.
"Hiss—" Harvey gasped. "This is a 'minor injury'? Do you guys on the farm have some kind of misconception about what a minor injury is?"
It was the same with James, and now Ron.
"Hmm?" Ron turned to look at him.
"Those two from your farm," Harvey said as he disinfected Ron's wound. "Speaking of which, that guy named James had injuries on his back that were no lighter than yours—though after applying the medicine, they should be pretty much healed by now."
"This is our clinic's specially formulated medicine. You can't buy it anywhere else," Harvey said as he applied the ointment to Ron. "I'd bet that even in the Kalos region, you couldn't find anything better than this."
Even though Harvey knew absolutely nothing about Kalos.
But for a miracle drug that could practically pull someone back from the brink of death, he had every right to be confident.
"How much is it?"
"1000g," Harvey replied. "But this one is free, since my employee is the one who injured you."
Remembering James and Jessie's physicals from yesterday, Ron remained silent.
Once Harvey finished applying the medicine, Ron—whose clothes were also a bit torn—hastily left 3000g on the counter and hurried back to the farm.
"Huh?" Maru was just about to call out to Ron when she noticed the money he had left behind.
"—" Harvey stared at the money, pondered for a moment, and then put it away.
"You're just going to keep it?"
"Am I supposed to chase him all the way to the farm to give it back?" Harvey said, glancing in the direction of the farm. "Though I didn't expect him to pay for their bills too."
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