"Indeedee."
Indeedee thought for a moment, then continued: "Indeedee."
"Don't report in, meow?" Meowth looked at Indeedee with some concern. "Is it really okay, meow?"
"Indeedee."
Indeedee said, breaking into a little trot toward Ron.
On the other side, after hanging up the phone, Abigail stretched and turned to look at Haley and the other two who were waiting for her.
"Aren't you going to call Emily?"
"Nah," Haley thought for a moment. "Sandy will definitely keep her company. Besides, she's probably really busy today."
She didn't want to make Emily go out of her way to make a trip.
With this in mind, Haley hugged the Sunflower Seeds in her arms and turned around.
"Since you're done calling, let's go rest."
"Mm." Abigail had just agreed when her intuition kicked in. She took another look at Haley, and seeing her somewhat lonely expression, she couldn't help but pat her shoulder. "If you want to chat with Emily, just go do it. No one will laugh at you, and Emily probably misses you too."
"It's fine, let her look for me on TV," Haley replied. "I'll call her after the next Pokémon Contest. It won't be long anyway. Let her enjoy the holiday and get a good rest today."
"True, it is the Feast of the Winter Star today. Emily must be pretty busy."
Saying this, Abigail suddenly turned to Bonnie and Serena excitedly. "Want to go to the grocery store together? We can make a big feast later!"
"A feast?"
"Where we're from, today is the one day a year we all share a meal. We get together to share the fruits of our labor over the year, and we even do a Secret Santa gift exchange!" Abigail said, looking at the two. "How about it? Want to celebrate with us?"
Seeing that neither objected, Abigail explained the festival's customs to them in detail.
Upon learning they had to draw for a Secret Santa, Serena found a piece of paper, wrote down the four names, folded them up, shuffled them in her hands, and pulled one out. "Ta-da! Come draw your Secret Santa. We'll go prepare our gifts first, and then meet up at the grocery store later!"
Abigail reached in, drew a slip of paper, and glanced at it.
"Let's head out then."
After saying their goodbyes at the door, they each looked at their maps and headed off in their respective directions.
"Where are we going, roto?" the Rotom Dex asked.
"Hmm—if it's for Bonnie—how about we give her some snacks?" Abigail asked, looking at the name on the slip.
"Don't know, roto! No data, roto! Analyzing now, roto!"
"—I shouldn't have asked you." Abigail muttered. She thought for a moment, then let her Gengar out. "What about you, Amber? What do you think?"
"Gengar!" Gengar circled around Abigail a few times. "Gengar!"
Just then, Gengar suddenly noticed a fleeting sound behind Abigail. Its red eyes narrowed as it stared dead ahead into the shadows.
"Looks like that girl's Gengar spotted us—what do we do?"
"What are we afraid of? The two of us can't beat one little girl?" he said, pulling out several Poké Balls from his pocket. "I've observed her; even counting that Rotom, she only has three Pokémon. This isn't a League match, who says we have to battle 1v1?"
Thinking this, the two men relaxed.
"By the way, Amber." Abigail remembered the Mega Stone from before. "Let's go look for your Mega Stone in a few days. I heard that with it, you can become incredibly strong."
"Gengar~"
"You're looking forward to it too, right?" Abigail said, rubbing Amber's head.
Because she was so focused on thinking about what to get Bonnie, Abigail didn't notice the situation behind her at all. She furrowed her brows, staring at the Rotom map, pondering where to buy Bonnie's gift.
"This shop seems to be really popular lately," Abigail said as she searched online. "I heard it's a local specialty. If I give it as a gift, she should like it, right? I just don't know if it's still in stock."
While Abigail was muttering to herself, the sound of several Poké Balls opening rang out behind her.
Gengar, Amber, stared intently at the twelve Pokémon that had just appeared before it. It then turned its head and glanced at Abigail, who was still discussing the gift with Rotom.
"—"
It then turned back to face the two men.
The next instant, it pulled out all the rings Abigail had given it before.
"What is it doing? Why is it putting things on itself?"
"No idea, but they look pretty valuable. We'll snatch them later. The people in this place are a bit weird. Who gives accessories to a Gengar? Can it even put them on with those little claws?"
Hearing this, the two couldn't help but laugh.
"Perfect, we'll make a little extra cash on the side."
Before the words even faded, a Shadow Ball came flying right at them.
"A sneak attack?! Go, Houndour, use Flamethrower!"
Normally, a Ghost-type move like this wouldn't be very effective against a Dark-type Houndour.
Therefore, the two didn't take Gengar seriously at all. But before the Houndour could even launch its attack, it slowly collapsed to the ground from that single Shadow Ball.
"Wait, that's not—"
Recalling the Houndour, the man waved his hand. "Go! All of you, attack at once!"
Before he finished speaking, the Gengar over there had already disappeared into the shadows.
Before the two men and their 11 remaining Pokémon could react, Gengar emerged from the shadows.
"It's a sneak attack!"
"Oh no!"
"Ah—hang in there—"
Abigail, who was passionately picking out a shop, paused. She raised her head and glanced at the sky. "Did a flash of light just go by?"
"Don't know, roto." Rotom was still absorbed in picking a shop. "If we have to choose, it has to be this one, roto! It's the most popular pastry shop here, roto! It has a 4.9-star rating, roto!"
"But this is Pokémon food, right?" Abigail rubbed her chin in thought. "You're the one who wants to eat it, aren't you, Rotom?"
"Rotom Dex can't eat, roto!" Rotom immediately put its handle-like appendages on its hips. "Rotom Dex is just providing you with the best reference, roto! Even if it's for Dedenne, Bonnie will be happy, roto."
Before it could finish, another flash of light appeared.
Abigail looked up, only managing to catch a faint glimmer of fire.
"Ah, are they setting off fireworks again today? Do they have a firework festival here too?"
During the last Festival of the Pledging Tree, they had a specially designated area for a firework festival. For Abigail, who grew up in a small town, watching people exchange gifts under the giant tree and then admire the fireworks in the distance together had left a profound impression on her.
She even thought about holding one in Pelican Town one day.
"Is there, roto?" Hearing this, Rotom also looked up.
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