After saying that, Harvey was about to leisurely head back into the examination room when Maru at the counter stopped him.
"?"
Harvey turned to look at Maru. She pointed to the calendar next to her. "It's Wednesday. I'm not on shift today."
"—" Harvey walked back to the counter in defeat.
Maru pushed up her glasses and strode out of the clinic.
After hesitating at the crossroads for a moment, Maru ultimately headed in the direction of the Pokémon Center.
Upon arriving at the Pokémon Center, her first action was to dial Clemont's number.
"How's the robot?" Clemont answered quickly. Seeing that it was Maru on the screen, he asked excitedly.
"It exploded," Maru stared at Clemont on the screen and pushed up her glasses once more.
"So it didn't work out after all?"
"'After all'?"
Clemont let out an awkward laugh. "Inventing is like that, you know. There are always little accidents. By the way, I've modified the blueprints over the last couple of days. Do you want to give them a try?"
Looking at Clemont scratching his head and laughing awkwardly on the other end, Maru hung up the video call without much politeness.
Taking a deep breath to calm down, she turned around just as Ron walked through the door, having changed his clothes. Seeing him enter, Maru gave him an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry—if I had known he was so unreliable beforehand..."
Ron waved it off, and the two headed into the treatment room.
Meanwhile, at the farm.
Indeedee stared at Ron's tattered clothes, pondering what to do with them.
When it came to mending them, Indeedee truly didn't have the skills.
Even though it had hands, they weren't dexterous enough for needlework.
"I'm exhausted—what are we having for lunch today?" Jessie had just finished working in the barn. She walked toward the washroom to clean her hands while asking the deep-in-thought Indeedee.
"Indeedee?" Indeedee looked up at Jessie. "Indeedee?"
"It's asking if spaghetti is okay, meow," Meowth translated from behind her.
"Spaghetti?" Jessie paused, swallowed hard, and said with stars in her eyes, "Absolutely!"
"Indeedee." With that, Indeedee set the clothes aside and headed to the kitchen.
"What's this?" Jessie washed her hands hastily. She was just about to go help Indeedee when she noticed the clothes draped over the chair.
Walking over and picking them up for a closer look, she recognized them as Ron's clothes.
"How did it get this ruined?" Jessie examined them in her hands, staring unavoidably at the large hole in the back.
"Don't tell me it was Maru's robot, meow—" Meowth muttered in disbelief. Then it remembered: "I think I heard this robot was actually based on advice from that Lumiose brat, meow."
"The one whose inventions always blow up?" Jessie immediately recalled Clemont's track record. She frowned. "It even has blood on it. Meowth, go wash it."
"Why me, meow?" Meowth took it reluctantly.
"I obviously have more important things to do," Jessie said matter-of-factly. Watching Meowth drag the jacket into the washroom, Jessie headed into their cabin.
After rummaging around inside, she found a sewing kit. Then, guided by a wild Rattata, she found a piece of scrap fabric in one of the farm's chests before returning to the main house.
Indeedee was still cooking in the kitchen. Meowth walked out dragging the washed clothes and was just wondering if he should bring the torn garment over to the fireplace to dry when he saw Jessie walk in.
"Give it here." Jessie took the clothes, sat down on a nearby chair, cut the fabric to size, and began stitching it over the hole in the back of Ron's shirt, little by little.
"I didn't know you could sew, Jessie, meow." Meowth sat nearby, looking up at the deeply focused Jessie. "Ah, that's right! You're the one who fixed that Mimikyu's disguise, aren't you?"
Jessie's hands, which had been patiently mending the clothes, couldn't help but freeze.
"Mimikyu... I wonder how they're doing now." Jessie looked down at the clothes in her hands. "They're probably living happily with Bewear, right?"
"Probably, meow." Meowth stared at Jessie's stitching, an unlikely thought suddenly popping into its head.
If—if they actually stayed here in the future, maybe they could bring everyone over.
Though, they'd have to actually decide to stay here first.
It didn't take long for Jessie to mend the hole in Ron's shirt. For the sake of appearances, she even deliberately added some decorative stitching around the edges so the patched fabric wouldn't look too out of place.
"Success!" Jessie then hung the shirt near the fireplace to dry.
"Indeedee." Indeedee walked out of the kitchen carrying lunch. At a glance, it immediately noticed the clothes that had somehow been mended.
Its action of using Psychic to place items on the table paused. It then looked over at Jessie, who was sitting in her chair with sparkling eyes, staring at her meal.
'They really aren't that bad after all—'
Indeedee thought to itself as it brought the finished spaghetti over to Jessie.
On the other side, the Rotom didn't wake up until the afternoon.
This Pokémon had lived with Maru ever since it hatched. The moment it opened its eyes, it saw a tearful Maru.
"Chirp—" the Rotom cried out softly.
"You're awake." Maru reached out to cup the Rotom, but afraid of accidentally hurting it, her hand stopped mid-air.
"After a little more rest, you'll be able to go home with her," Joy said as she stepped forward. After a quick check-up, she reassured Maru.
Maru couldn't help but let out a choked sob.
"Chirp—"
"I'm sorry." Maru carefully reached a finger out toward the Rotom.
The Rotom tilted its little head and nuzzled against Maru's finger.
Seeing that the Rotom was fine, Ron finally stood up from his chair nearby. "I'll head back first, then."
"Mm, bye."
Making his way back from the Pokémon Center to the farm, Ron stepped into the cabin and immediately saw the shirt hanging by the fire, along with the dinner Indeedee had left out for him on the table.
"Did you mend this?" Ron sat down and asked while eating his dinner.
"Indeedee?" Indeedee poked its head out of the bedroom. After glancing at the shirt, it held out its paws for Ron to see, then frantically waved them back and forth.
Even without using Mind Reader, Ron had become completely fluent in Indeedee's body language by now and instantly guessed what it meant.
"Then who was it?"
"Indeedee!"
Indeedee walked out and pointed toward the lit-up cabin nearby. "Indeedee!"
"Mm—Jessie?" Ron asked.
"Indeedee!"
Indeedee tilted its ear to listen. Upon hearing Ron's inner thoughts, it nodded in firm agreement.
See? They really aren't that bad!
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