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"Magearna."
Magearna paused, turning its head to look at Indeedee, who was surrounded by everyone in a circle.
It blinked in confusion, trying to understand what Ron meant by "relax a little."
Ron glanced at Magearna, reached out and patted its head, then went straight to the stove to help Indeedee cook.
"Magearna."
Magearna stared at the backs of the two, a little bewildered, and walked out of the cabin.
Sweeping its gaze across the farm, everyone was busy with their own things at the moment.
The Rattata were waiting to be fed, while the Geodude were chewing away at the rocks dug up from the mine in some corner of the farm.
Miltank and Deerling were playing in the pasture. Not far away, Meowth, having just put on its new collar, came out of the house humming a tune.
Catching sight of Magearna from afar, it walked over and greeted it.
"What are you doing here, meow?"
"Magearna, Magearna." (Ron told me to relax a little, but I don't quite understand.)
"Ron wants you to relax, meow." Meowth scratched its head. "Don't you know what relaxing means?"
"Magearna."
It was obvious; Magearna was originally created to serve a king's daughter, and it took many years before it was finally reawakened by the old farmer to work on this farm.
Whether it was its original design purpose or its instinct as a machine, it really didn't know how to let itself relax.
Naturally, it assumed everyone else should be the same.
"You have to think about this kind of thing slowly, meow." Meowth sat down next to Magearna. "Actually, nobody hates you, meow."
Even though they would complain a bit when they couldn't get a good meal, because they knew Magearna was doing it for the farm and for Ron, no one took their anger out on Magearna.
Moreover, under Magearna's management, everyone's work efficiency had indeed improved significantly. Work that used to take a long time to finish was now streamlined, with many processes cut down thanks to Magearna's arrangements.
And for things that used to take ages to find, they only needed to ask Magearna, and it could locate them instantly.
"Magearna~"
Magearna certainly knew this.
"As long as you're not overthinking it, Meowth is relieved, meow." Meowth said, looking up at the setting sun, and then added, "Could it be that Ron means he just wants you not to worry so much?"
"Magearna?"
"Look, even though Meowth used to worry about our Team Rocket activity funds, that was because we were Team Rocket teammates; Jessie and James aren't my Trainers," Meowth looked up. "But whether it's Jessie's Gourgeist or James's Mime Jr., they don't have to worry about this stuff. They just need to help their Trainer fight when necessary."
"Magearna?"
"It's the same for you. You just need to follow Ron's request, help everyone arrange their work, and manage the inventory," Meowth thought for a moment and said. "As for how much money the farm makes or loses, that's entirely for Ron to figure out himself. Plus, he probably has his own plans."
Hearing this, Magearna pondered for a moment, then nodded.
"Meowth isn't saying this just so we can eat good food later, meow." Meowth then stood up, taking a glance at its new collar.
"Magearna."
Magearna looked up at the sky, then handed its bottle of machine oil to Meowth's paw.
"You want me to help you apply it?" Meowth looked at the oil in its paw, nodded, and helped Magearna pour the oil into the gaps of its gears.
"Magearna~"
"You're welcome, meow."
Meanwhile, inside the cabin.
Because it had made a lot of food, Indeedee specifically found the longest table and set it up, filling it to the brim.
Every time it placed a dish on the table, the Rattata below would let out a cheer.
"Indeedee!"
"Rattata!!!!!"
"Indee!" Indeedee then gave a loud call, announcing that it was time to eat.
——
Everyone quickly lined up, climbed onto the table using their stools, and lay by their plates, waiting for everyone to be ready so they could start the meal together.
Meowth and Magearna also came inside. Magearna stood next to Indeedee, watching the Rattata wolfing down their food. After a while, it softly chimed.
"In." (What's wrong?)
"Indeedee." (I won anyway.)
Indeedee patted Magearna with the attitude of a winner.
Magearna turned its head to look at Indeedee. Because Magearna's emotional perception in this regard was very weak, even though Indeedee could hear its inner thoughts, it didn't quite know what Magearna was thinking.
So it patted Magearna again.
"Indeedee~" (It can't be helped if you're a machine.)
Having finally won this petty rivalry after so long, Indeedee seemed extremely magnanimous. It comforted Magearna with a few more words before heading to the dining table to start eating.
Probably because Ron and Indeedee had spoiled their palates before, just a few days of fried bread was enough to make everyone miserable. Now that they were eating delicious food again after so long, every single Rattata was eating with all their might.
Ron smiled as he looked around at the Pokémon burying their faces in their food, then turned his gaze to Magearna, who was standing blankly by the table watching him.
Ron paused for a moment, then smiled at Magearna.
"Magearna——"
Lifestyle habits weren't so easily changed. Ron didn't expect that just saying a single sentence would make Magearna instantly adapt to the farm's way of life.
But this was a wake-up call for Ron, too.
It was true that because he had been busy with the Kalos business lately, he had relaxed quite a bit on managing the farm's operations.
Coupled with the rent for the newly expanded land and miscellaneous expenses, they were indeed running a bit of a deficit right now.
However, it was only temporary. Ron estimated that by around autumn, the Ancient Fruit planted on Ginger Island would be ready for harvest in batches. After that, whether it was making wine or selling dried fruit, it would bring in a steady income.
Pondering this for a while, Ron got up and started clearing the table.
"——Sorry, meow... Meowth really can't get up," Meowth said, rubbing its round belly. "Can't help clean up."
"That's fine, you guys get a good rest." Ron said, cleaning up while asking Indeedee to use its psychic powers to lift the ball-shaped Rattata one by one onto their beds to rest.
"Rattata——" Sailor struggled to raise a single paw. "Rattata——" (H-haven't washed up...)
"——In." Indeedee silently patted Sailor. "Indeedee." (Let it slide this time.)
"Rattata——"
Sailor hiccuped, struggled to crawl onto the floor, and wriggled toward the washroom.
Ron laughed, turning his head to continue his work.
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