The moment Rotom looked up, it automatically started its broadcast.
"[Houndour, the Dark Pokémon. The howls it makes to communicate with its pack differ from the ones it makes when pursuing prey.]"
"—" Abigail looked up. "Is that the name of the firework?"
"Don't know, roto." Rotom scratched its head in confusion. "Normally, a situation like this would mean there's a Pokémon around, roto."
Hearing this, Abigail leaned in to take a look at the screen, then looked back up at the sky. "Do the dogs around here fly?"
"—" Rotom hesitated for a moment, torn between admitting it had a malfunction and accepting that dogs could fly. "Maybe it's a regional form, roto."
"I guess that happens too."
"Maybe it does, roto."
After looking up for a while longer, Abigail didn't dwell on what had actually happened. After confirming their next destination, she called out to her Gengar. "Amber, let's go, we're heading out."
"Amber?"
Getting no response, Abigail turned her head and saw Gengar slowly floating over from nearby.
"Honestly, where did you run off to?" Abigail rubbed Gengar's head.
"Gengar!"
"Let's go, I'll buy you some pastries at that super popular shop later!"
"Gengar!" Amber followed happily.
"Did you level up, roto?" Rotom asked, chasing behind Gengar.
"Gengar~"
On the other side, in Pelican Town.
After Indeedee came over and reported the situation regarding Team Rocket with a series of "Indeedee"s, Ron pondered for a moment, then waved his hand, signaling that it didn't need to worry about it.
Seeing how completely confident Ron looked, Indeedee finally felt relieved.
It turned around and said to the apprehensive Team Rocket trio: "Indeedee, Indee."
"You really don't mind this, meow?" Meowth rubbed its paws together. "But Team Rocket is really formidable, meow."
"Indeedee, Indeedee."
"It really is okay, meow." Meowth paused, remembering those few Pokémon that had left Pelican Town, and then thought about Bellossom, finally putting its mind completely at ease.
Jessie and James exchanged a glance.
"Um—are you really not bothered that we're from Team Rocket?" Jessie asked softly.
"Did you come to the farm to do bad things?" Ron didn't answer, asking instead.
"Hmm—no," James shook his head.
"Then it's fine." Ron waved his hand. "Go enjoy the festival, you don't need to worry about this stuff."
Speaking of which, Ron remembered Abigail and the others. Even though the farm wouldn't have any issues, Abigail and her group were still in a bit of danger.
With this in mind, he turned to look at Indeedee. "Once spring arrives and the farm work is done, I'll make another trip to Kalos."
"Indeedee~"
Indeedee immediately agreed.
Today was Winter 25. By his calculations, once spring came and the initial farm work was finished, it would be less than a week away.
Ron sat back down in his chair, pondering what to bring Abigail and the others for self-defense.
Come to think of it, after unlocking the Mastery Cave, Ron had immediately unlocked Combat Mastery and sent Bellossom down into the mines for another high-intensity grind.
They had obtained quite a few special rings.
For instance, there were about two Fairy Boxes that could heal injuries. In addition, there were things like Frog Eggs, which could summon a frog to swallow enemies.
Add to that the Ice Rod, a hard crowd-control item that could freeze enemies for a period of time—no matter what, it would be more than enough for their self-defense.
After calculating for a bit, Ron leaned back in his chair and picked up the Piña Colada that Gus had mixed.
Just then, a hand patted Ron on the shoulder.
Ron turned his head and saw Leah standing behind him.
"Good evening, Ron." Leah blinked at him. "Even though you aren't my Secret Santa, I still wanted to give you this today."
Saying this, Leah handed over a small wood carving.
Ron reached out and took it. Looking at it in his hand, he recognized it as a carved wooden jar. It looked somewhat familiar, but Ron couldn't quite place what it was for a moment.
"What is this?"
"A secret." Seeing that Ron didn't recognize it, Leah smiled, then asked, "By the way, can I come visit the farm in the spring?"
"As long as you're free, you're welcome anytime, though I might not be around," Ron replied.
"I see." Leah couldn't really tell if she felt a little disappointed right then, but she still smiled and joked with Ron. "That's normal. After all, running such a big farm, plus exporting goods to Kalos, and the Fern Islands—you set up a farm there too, right?"
"Yeah."
"Willy was the one who told me, by the way." Leah said. Looking at Jessie in the distance, she waved at Ron, then jogged back over to Jessie's side.
"You didn't go confess to him, did you?" Jessie was wolfing down her food, and seeing Leah sit back down, she couldn't help but ask.
"No, I just gave him a little gift."
"The one you've been carving all this time? I remember it looked like a jar, right?"
"Mm." Leah paused before saying, "It's the jar we used the first day I collected Maple Syrup with him and made jam."
"—" Jessie looked up at Leah. "Aren't you being a bit too subtle with your feelings?"
"Really?" Leah picked up her cup, neither agreeing nor denying it. "That was the happiest day I've had since coming to Pelican Town."
Hearing this, Jessie looked at Leah, her eyes inevitably filling with a hint of sympathy.
Leah rested her chin on her hands. "I originally planned to give it to him later."
In her original plan, she wanted to wait until after the Flower Dance. If Ron invited her, she would give it to him on the day of the festival.
If he didn't, she would keep the feeling buried in her heart and wait until his birthday next year to give it to him as a normal present.
But just now, for some reason, she had felt a sudden impulse to give it to Ron right away.
So she just did it.
"Maybe the atmosphere was just right," Leah thought uncertainly.
With this in mind, she looked up at the giant Winter Star tree, the pile of presents beneath it, and the townspeople who were currently exchanging gifts to express their affection.
Set against the glow of lights and candles, along with all sorts of winter decorations, a joyous atmosphere filled everything in sight.
"This year has been—a really good year, a very happy year."
Jessie stuffed a piece of pumpkin pie into her mouth. Hearing this, she also looked up at the tree. She zoned out for a second, and in that brief moment, it seemed she recalled her own impoverished yet hopeful childhood.
With this in mind, Jessie couldn't help but say softly, "Next year will be happy too."
"Will it?"
"It will."
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