Meanwhile, at the farm.
This was who-knows-how-many days since Ron had left.
The smell of food permeated the farm.
"Should we just go eat at the saloon today?" Jessie said listlessly, looking at the boiling pot. "I'm really sick of this..."
The Rattata below also had no appetite; they were just counting on their claws, calculating when their pocket money would be enough to afford a trip to the saloon for a decent meal.
This was something that never happened when Ron was around, or even when Indeedee was here.
"The money is with Magearna, we have to apply for it," James said, glancing at Magearna, who was strictly calculating the farm's various revenues and expenses on the side.
"Magearna thinks we've overspent Meowth."
This would absolutely never happen with Indeedee. The difference was that one could ensure the farm's income and expenditure balanced out, while the other could ensure everyone happily ate and worked.
"Alright," Jessie let out a long sigh. "I'm starting to miss Indeedee and Ron."
"Rattata, Rattata!!!" The Rattata below chimed in in agreement.
Magearna had no reaction to this. Because it also possessed the ability to hear everyone's inner thoughts, it could easily distinguish whether everyone was genuinely up in arms or if they were just complaining for the sake of complaining.
Obviously, it was the latter at this moment.
Furthermore, they had just gone to the saloon for a group meal three days ago, and tomorrow was the Luau. No matter how you calculated it, it wasn't time for a treat.
As for Magearna itself, as a machine, it completely didn't understand the group's pursuit of gourmet food; it only knew that being full was enough.
And this never happened with the old farmer, either. The old farmer was a workaholic, plus he was passionate about Pokémon battles. He didn't even cook for himself, nor did he have time to eat at the saloon; most of the time, he just ate some fast food.
"Magearna~" Magearna ignored everyone's complaints and continued calculating.
This week was considered a balanced budget.
Since the Hops ran out and they recently started brewing Starfruit Wine, the revenue from Pelican Town had decreased quite a bit; the majority of the farm's income came from Kalos.
And because the currencies of the two regions were not interchangeable, Magearna was strictly controlling the farm's accounts to avoid any budget deficits during its tenure.
Speaking of which, this was another way Ron was different from the old farmer.
Not only did every Pokémon have their own pocket money, but there was also the salary for Team Rocket and Shane, plus a sum paid to Lewis every month called an education fund, as well as vegetables, fruits, and ingredients sent to the Pokémon Center to be sold at almost giveaway prices.
Although the farm could make a large sum every time it sold industrial products like wine, in reality, most of the time, the farm was constantly losing money.
It only seemed like the farm was doing well because there were no major expenses at the moment.
"Magearna."
He is still too soft-hearted.
Magearna thought, recalling what the farm used to be like. Its gaze fell on the Rattata not far away, who were pooling their pocket money together, discussing going to eat something delicious later.
However, Magearna couldn't say which way was better or worse. As Pokémon, none had ever left their Trainer just because their living conditions were poor.
Not to mention, the old farmer didn't live in luxury while letting everyone else suffer; he just focused more on battling and making money, diminishing the aspect of enjoyment.
Just as Magearna was thinking this, footsteps seemed to come from the farm entrance.
The Rattata, who were still pondering their next treat, were the first to react. Two of them exchanged a glance, let out a cheer, and dashed out of the cabin.
"It's Ron, meow! Ron is back, meow!!!"
Before the words even finished, everyone swarmed outside.
Even Jessie and James followed behind, looking tearfully at Ron, who was already submerged by the Rattata.
"Wait, wait, what's going on, what happened?" Ron struggled to climb out of the pile of Rattata, looking around.
"Rattata, Rattata Rattata!" (The food is terrible! We're starving!)
"Rattata, Rattata!!!!"
Amidst the noisy complaints, Meowth's choked-up voice could be heard covering its mouth: "Finally... finally we can eat something good, meow."
Before Ron could react, Indeedee popped out of his pocket.
As soon as it landed, Indeedee also received a warm welcome from everyone.
Indeedee was instantly surrounded by them, helplessly scratching its head.
"Indeedee, in?"
"Indeedee?" (Are you guys hungry?)
Hungry, huh. Alright.
Indeedee rubbed its hands together and marched toward the cabin.
A squad of Rattata followed behind Indeedee like guards, marching grandly toward the kitchen.
"It's so good that you're back, meow..." Meowth tearfully pulled Ron up. "Next time you go to Kalos... don't take Indeedee with you, meow."
"——Alright." Ron stood up, looked at Team Rocket who were wiping away tears not far away, and then took out the gifts he brought for them. "By the way, this is for you——"
Meowth took the package Ron handed over. Opening it up, it saw a collar meant for Meowth.
"I heard it's very popular among Meowth, so I brought one for you," Ron said, walking over to Jessie and James, and handing them their gifts as well.
"Wow, it's a super rare Bottle Cap..."
"Wow, isn't this outfit super expensive?!!!"
Amidst the cheers, Ron placed the local snacks and specialties he brought back on the table one by one.
"Magearna?"
Magearna looked at Ron, tilting its head in confusion.
"You have one too," Ron said, handing over a bottle of machine oil. "It's for maintaining mechanical parts. You should be able to use it."
"Magearna." Magearna held the bottle, its mind still trying to process this.
By now, boosted by the Rattata's flattery, Indeedee had decided to cook every single recipe in Ron's cookbook.
The long-lost feeling of being needed!
"Indeedee!" Indeedee held the cookbook, realizing for the first time just how important this job was.
"Rattata, Rattata, Rattata."
The surrounding Rattata cheered.
Indeedee yanked open the fridge, took out all the ingredients inside, and under the propulsion of its psychic power, the ingredients were all prepped and thrown into the pots one by one.
Ron sat on a chair, listening to Magearna report on the expenses during this period and the recent events.
"You even planted some Fairy Roses? Good work." Ron said, glancing at the chattering Rattata over there, and then said to Magearna beside him: "You can probably tell... we are, um... a bit different from the old farmer."
"Magearna?"
"What I mean is——" Ron looked at Magearna and said: "Here, you can relax a little bit."
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