New Pokemon fanfic out now! Please check it out and show your support :) 'From Ranger To Pokemon Master'
----------------------
Meanwhile, in Kalos.
After the Pokémon Contest ended, the four girls were currently heading toward Anistar City.
"Counting the days, isn't today the Luau?" Abigail examined the Pokédex in her hand, then turned to look at Haley after a moment.
"Let me think." Haley paused, calculated for a bit, and nodded. "Should be today."
"The Luau? What's that?" Bonnie raised her hand and asked.
"It's when, on this day every year, everyone brings ingredients from home and makes a huge potluck on the beach in Pelican Town," Haley said. "Because of Gus's special soup base, no matter what you add to the pot, it tastes great."
At this, Haley's expression slowly changed, and Abigail next to her laughed. "You tasted it that time?"
"Didn't get the chance," Haley said. "Just thinking about it makes me feel a little sick."
The others hadn't been so lucky, especially Lewis himself.
"What? What is it?"
"Nothing, just thinking about it makes me slightly lose my appetite." Abigail blinked. "Best not to know before eating. Shall we have a picnic here? Let's make our own potluck."
"With four people, you can't really call it a potluck, can you?" Serena couldn't help but say.
"Then a four-luck soup." Haley said, as the Sunkern in her arms called out.
"Sunkern~"
So Haley held up Sunkern. "Then five-luck soup."
"Gengar~"
"Six-luck."
"I have two more here!" Bonnie held up Dedenne and Squishy from her crossbody bag. "Eight-luck!"
After the group joked around for a bit, they set up a pot in the forest.
Although they didn't have Gus's special soup base, since there was no one like Sam who loved to cause trouble, and they only put in standard ingredients, the taste was surprisingly decent.
Watching the bubbles boiling in the pot, Haley inexplicably thought of Emily.
"I wonder how Emily is doing. Is she missing me? She wouldn't be hiding under her blanket crying again, would she?" Haley said.
"Maybe? Want to give her a call later?"
"Never mind." Haley shook her head, then let out a long sigh after a moment.
Meanwhile, in Pelican Town.
Just as Haley had predicted, after the Luau ended, Emily returned home alone.
Turning on the lights, she looked at the empty room. After a moment, Emily took a deep breath, walked over to the corner, and pulled out the camping gear.
And placed it in the most prominent spot!
"Emily~"
Her Squawkabilly called out from the side. "Emily, Emily~"
"Emily is going camping tomorrow," Emily said to Squawkabilly. "You'll be home alone tomorrow."
"Emily, Emily~"
Emily looked at Squawkabilly and smiled after a moment.
Surprisingly, after this Luau ended, after coming home from that atmosphere, Emily didn't feel the same loneliness as before. Rather, she was actually looking forward to tomorrow.
Perhaps, on this day, quite a few people were learning to look forward.
Thinking this, Emily finished packing her bag, then turned and lay down on her bed.
The next day.
Early in the morning, Ron started preparing for today's camping trip.
But it was slightly different from Emily's preparations.
He was currently racking his brain trying to recall every detail of that camping event, just in case anything unexpected happened.
For example, the tent.
To be safe, he definitely needed to bring a spare!
Ron pondered as he stuffed two new tents into his backpack.
"Indeedee?"
"You're not coming." Ron glanced at Indeedee's expression and immediately guessed what it was going to ask, refusing without hesitation. "It's just camping, nothing else, and don't get any other ideas."
At this, Ron thought for another moment, then turned back to continue packing.
Before long, the fully prepared Emily arrived at the farm.
As soon as she walked in, Emily saw Ron organizing his backpack.
"You haven't finished packing yet?" Emily patted the camping gear on her back, looking proud. "I got these ready days ago."
"Just making sure I haven't forgotten anything." Ron said, doing one final check of his backpack and touching the Rabbit's Foot in his pants pocket, before straightening up and looking at Emily. "Have you had breakfast?"
"Indee!"
Before Emily could respond, Indeedee rushed up to her carrying a plate of breakfast.
"Indeedee, in."
"It says to finish eating before going camping, meow," Meowth translated.
Emily accepted the plate with pleasant surprise. Smelling the enticing aroma, she realized she had been in such a rush this morning that she'd forgotten to eat breakfast.
She thanked Indeedee, then sat down next to Meowth.
"Where are you guys camping, meow?" Meowth asked curiously while eating.
"The Secret Woods." Emily pulled out a map and pointed to a spot on it. "Right here."
"Hmm?" Meowth leaned in to examine the map repeatedly, then turned to look at Emily's excessive camping gear, and then thought about Ron's preparations for camping. It fell into silence.
"What's wrong?" Emily asked, seeing Meowth's confused expression.
"You guys... if you're just going camping at a place like that..." Meowth said in a strange tone. "Do you really need to prepare this much stuff?"
It thought they were going to be gone for ten days or half a month.
What was the difference between camping there and having a picnic at a park? From the farm to that forest, even if you crawled, it wouldn't take a day!
You could probably even come back to the farm for lunch before going!
"——Uh." Emily paused. "For the atmosphere?"
"I really don't understand you humans. Then why not go to Ginger Island?" Meowth asked again. "At least that's a bit farther from home."
"Alright." Ron patted Meowth's head. "Stop asking so many questions and eat."
Emily tilted her head, pondering Meowth's question. Ron noticed and offered a few words of comfort.
"Camping is camping, no matter where," Ron continued. "If you wanted to, you could even camp on the farm. Setting up a tent right in the vegetable patch wouldn't be a problem."
"In the vegetable patch would be a bit strange."
Emily burst out laughing, then thought about it. "But the camping atmosphere there should be pretty nice. When you were in Kalos, Leah and I specifically went to check it out."
"Indeedee?" (Specifically?)
"Mhm." Emily caught what Indeedee's look was asking and smiled. "Because there was really nothing else to do, so we went specifically to take a look."
It was a kind of ritual—learning to let go of the past and face a new life.
"Indee."
Indeedee nodded thoughtfully, deciding not to cause any trouble today.
Seeing Indeedee's demeanor, Ron finally set down Indeedee's Poké Ball and relaxed to eat his breakfast.
After the meal, after one final confirmation with Magearna about today's farm work schedule, Ron and Emily walked out together through the farm's south gate.
"I've walked this road plenty of times before, but it feels a little different today." Emily tilted her head up and took a deep breath. "Probably because I used to always come here with Haley?"
Ron gave a murmur of agreement.
They hadn't gone far when Leah's voice drifted over from nearby.
"You want Dried Peach and Hot Pepper Jelly?" Leah said in disbelief. "Do you raccoons have such strict requirements for reproduction? Nothing else will do? And since when do raccoons eat Hot Pepper Jelly?"
"Squeak!!!"
The Raccoon held up the sign on its chest, arguing vehemently with Leah.
These are the rules passed down by our ancestors!!
"Really?" Leah looked at the Raccoon as if seeing a ghost. "Then where did your raccoon parents get their Hot Pepper and Oranges? Do these things grow in the wild too?"
"Squeak."
The Raccoon squeaked.
It didn't know that. Anyway, these were the ancestors' rules!
"Either Spice Berry dried fruit and Blackberry jelly, or no deal." Leah said decisively. "You aren't trying to slack off by asking me for things that can only be bought from a shop, are you?"
"Squeak!"
The Raccoon argued indignantly, but was coldly vetoed by Leah with a single vote.
Ron and Emily exchanged a glance and decided not to get involved in their dispute, quickening their pace toward the Secret Woods in the distance.
The Secret Woods was located in a corner of Cindersap Forest. Because the entrance was fairly hidden, not many people came here normally.
Emily ducked through the gap in the bushes, then set her backpack down by a nearby tree stump.
"So, what's the first step of camping?" Emily sat on the tree stump, watching Ron unload things, and couldn't help but ask.
"Pitching the tent, I guess." Ron said, taking the tent out of his backpack and setting it up to the side. "Then setting up the campfire and stuff like that."
"Yeah, that's not what I was asking." Emily paused, but still jumped down from the stump to help Ron set up the tent. "By the way, they all said you added something special to the potluck yesterday? What was it?"
"Guess?"
"I don't know." Emily recalled for a moment but couldn't remember any ingredient in that pot of soup that stood out as special.
Well, it definitely wasn't Lewis's purple underwear, at any rate.
"But come to think of it, it's really strange." Emily said. "I think it might have something to do with some mysterious power."
Seeing Ron look at her, she whispered, "After drinking the potluck yesterday, it feels like something about you is different somehow."
"..."
"?" Ron swallowed hard, his tone a bit unsteady. "Different how?"
"I don't know, it just feels like you've become more charming." Emily hammered a stake heavily into the ground, then continued. "I think it might be some kind of guidance from beyond."
"I didn't put Stardrop Tea in there——" Ron muttered, his voice drifting as he closed his eyes and tried to recall.
Not far away, at the farm, Indeedee, who was preparing lunch, suddenly sneezed violently.
Indeedee scratched its head, thought for a moment, and didn't think anything of it.
"Is Ron going to spend the night outside?" Meowth asked.
"Indeedee, indeedee." (If he brought a tent, wouldn't it be a waste to just take a nap?)
"I see, that makes sense." Meowth thought about it, but still found it somewhat baffling. "Why would anyone camp right at their own doorstep——"
"Indee." (It's about the mood.)
"In, indeedee." (You wouldn't understand.)
"You seem to have said something very strange." Meowth shuddered, then continued helping Indeedee prep the ingredients. "Humans are so weird."
"Indeedee~"
They really are~~~
Indeedee rubbed its paws together, then turned its head and asked, "Indeed, indeed?" (Who do you think Ron will end up with?)
Meowth was stumped by Indeedee's question. "Does he have to end up with someone?"
"Indeedee?" (Well, yeah?)
"But Jessie and James are always together, and they're not together." Meowth said. "There are also people who are just really good friends, right?"
At this point, it imagined what it would look like if Jessie and James were together, and couldn't help but shudder.
"Indeedee."
Indeedee didn't quite understand what Meowth meant. While it was pondering, James and Jessie walked in.
The two sat down at the table in perfect sync. Jessie naturally reached out her hand, and James placed a cup in front of her, thoughtfully pouring water into it.
"I'm exhausted, been planting those seeds all day." Jessie complained. Noticing a bizarre gaze directed at her, she couldn't help but look over.
"Indeedee."
"What's wrong, Indeedee? Did you need us for something?" Jessie pointed at herself and asked.
"Indeedee."
Indeedee shook its head, but its eyebrows furrowed as it fell into deep thought.
Time flashed forward to the afternoon.
Over at the Secret Woods, Ron finished cooking the soup, ladled out a bowl, and set it to the side.
"If I went adventuring in Kalos with you, it would probably be really wonderful." Emily said, handing over the side dishes she had chopped, watching Ron dump them into the pot.
With a sizzle, oil splattered out of the pot.
"Maybe." Ron thought for a moment. "Do you want to go adventuring in Kalos too?"
"No." Emily shook her head. "Just saying."
The two chatted casually. Just then, a rustling sound came from the nearby bushes.
Emily paused.
"Is it the Raccoon?"
"Raccoon?" Ron repeated, then said. "The Raccoon is with Leah——"
"Then?" Emily gulped, staring at the bushes.
The next instant, a massive bear's head poked out from within.
Emily felt her heart leap. In the heat of the moment, she yanked Ron and ducked into the tent nearby. Through the tent, she clutched her pounding heart, staying alert to the sounds outside.
"It shouldn't be dangerous," Ron whispered.
"How do you know?" Emily asked.
"Because it's almost done eating." Ron pointed outside.
"What?"
Emily peeked out and saw that the bear had already stuck its head into the pot and was feasting away.
It seemed the bear had explored Emily's tent earlier; the tent she had prepared was now a pile of wreckage.
"Ah, my tent! What do we do!" Emily glanced at it, covered her mouth, and said in a tiny, distressed whisper. "Then we can only——"
"Then we can only use my backup tent," Ron answered first.
------------------------------------------------------
40+ Chapters Ahead: patreon.com/EphemeralShadow
There's something for free patrons too! Free Patrons receive 1 chapter in advance :)