Froakie, who had recently been busy fighting monsters and leveling up in the volcano dungeon of Ginger Island, bumped into Meowth on his way home. Because Willy was nowhere to be found, Meowth was thinking about when to go look for him. The two entered the door one after the other.
"Fro, fro, froakie!"
Froakie squinted its eyes, looking as if to say "I'm back, hurry up and welcome me," and bumped right into the back of the frozen Meowth.
"Froakie?"
Why are you blocking the way? Honestly.
Froakie rubbed its head, bypassed James, and only then realized that the current atmosphere was a bit off.
The four people stared at each other, looking like they were trying hard to fabricate an excuse to smoothly get past the current scene.
But what did this have to do with a Froakie like it? Thinking this, Froakie leaped up and jumped onto Ron's shoulder.
"Froakie."
Got any food?
Froakie rubbed its belly, squinting at Ron.
"Yes," Ron nodded, looking at the three still frozen people. Thoughtfully making room, he gave them time to unify—
—their excuses. So Ron, carrying Froakie on his shoulder, said, "I'll go get it something to eat. If you guys know each other, you can catch up in here first."
Giovanni looked at the Froakie, which also had an extraordinary presence, and nodded.
Although he had seen quite a few Pokémon on the farm, the only ones that radiated killing intent at first glance were Bellossom and this Froakie. Thinking of that frog that could even devour Zygarde, Giovanni's expression turned a bit more solemn. But when he thought of the potential opportunities hidden within this, his brow smoothed out again, and he smiled at Jessie and James.
"What is the Boss planning to do, meow? His smile is so creepy, meow." Meowth muttered in a low voice.
"How should I know?" Jessie wore a fake smile. After a moment, she rubbed her hands together. "Um, Boss Boss Giovanni, I, we weren't already—"
"We just happen to know each other." The room wasn't big, and their mutterings offered zero secrecy. Giovanni's mouth twitched as he interrupted Jessie's words. "I have no relation to Team Rocket. I am merely a person who accidentally drifted here, understood?"
"Y-yes, understood!"
"Then you may step down," Giovanni paused. "After you collect your wages."
"Yes, Boss Giovanni!"
Ron handed the food to Froakie's paws. Seeing that the group had mostly finished their discussion, he walked up to Giovanni.
"Um, we just happen to know him, meow. We're not close, meow!" Meowth raised his paws and said under Giovanni's gaze.
"Right, right, right, not close at all." Jessie rubbed her hands together. "About our wages..."
"You can just go get them from Magearna."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Team Rocket and Meowth disappeared from in front of him like the wind. So Ron turned his head to look at Giovanni.
"If you don't mind, you can stay in—" Ron thought about it but couldn't think of anywhere else for Giovanni to temporarily stay. "Just stay in this house. I'll have them clean out a room for you in a bit."
"Sorry for the trouble," Giovanni said politely.
So, right in front of Giovanni, a long line of Rattatas cleaned out a small room. After storing the large bed into a box on one side, the Rattatas one by one carried their little pillows and waddled toward Ron's room.
Indeedee also held her pillow, hesitantly following at the end of the line.
Froakie patted Indeedee a few times with its paws.
Whether it was a big deal or a small one, so many days have passed, it should be over by now.
This is what family is!
After comforting her, Froakie hugged its pillow, claimed the best resting spot, and laid down next to Ron's pillow.
This period of time had been truly exhausting. If anything, Froakie was the one who should have felt more anxious about not having a place in the farm.
After all, it initially held the very important job of watering the crops on the farm. But after the sprinklers achieved full coverage, Froakie was completely free. For combat, there was Bellossom. Aside from following Bellossom down the mines to gain experience, it mostly just wandered around the farm most of the day.
Being a pendant hanging on Ron's shoulder all the time felt boring to it. Fortunately, it soon found its own footing in the volcano dungeon. In a place where water was needed to solidify the lava in order to get around smoothly, the Water-type Froakie had the absolute advantage.
Although Bellossom's stats were also shockingly high, as a Grass-type Pokémon, it understandably didn't want to stay there for long periods of time. Back and forth, Froakie became a regular in the volcano dungeon.
Exhausted from the day, Froakie fell asleep lying next to the pillow.
***
Outside the door, Giovanni, who couldn't help but feel that everything today had gone a bit too smoothly, looked at Ron's bedroom door. After a moment, he turned and went to the newly cleaned room to sleep.
The farm's belongings, including the gems the kids had used for crafting not long ago, were all left out in the open. They were completely unguarded against him, a person of unknown origin. Of course, as the boss of Team Rocket, Giovanni naturally wouldn't harbor any greed for these ordinary valuables.
Giovanni lay on the bed, pondering for a while. Unable to figure out a reason, he just went to sleep, deciding to observe the situation for a period of time first.
***
Meanwhile.
It had been a long time since the bed was this crowded. Fortunately, the hot summer had passed. Although it wasn't exactly cool right now, at least it wasn't so hot that he couldn't sleep with the bed stuffed full of these furry, warm little guys.
The surroundings were full of breathing sounds. Indeedee, covered in her little blanket, stared at the ceiling, lost in thought.
Ron struggled to find a gap in the bed and then wedged himself in perfectly.
"Ratta—" The squeezed Rattata muttered a few words, rolled over, and continued sleeping soundly.
Ron let out a long breath.
"Indeedee." Indeedee stared at the ceiling and called out softly.
"Go to sleep." Ron tried his best to rub Indeedee's head without disturbing the other Pokémon.
"Indeedee."
So Indeedee narrowed her eyes. Right now everyone was asleep, and the horns she used to eavesdrop on inner thoughts were empty, picking up nothing.
As for Ron, who was still awake here.
He wasn't thinking about anything right now.
The long-lost peace surprisingly smoothed out the heart of Indeedee, who for some reason always felt anxious and restless. She let out a soft cry and closed her eyes.
***
Time skipped to the next day.
By the time Giovanni got up, Indeedee was already making breakfast. Even though she knew Giovanni was basically not a good person, she still kindly made him breakfast.
As for what kind of trouble Giovanni might cause on the farm, she wasn't worried. On one hand, Magearna had confiscated his Poké Ball yesterday. On the other hand, Bellossom had also finished its work in the mines these past two days and was busy applying Grassy Terrain to the crops alongside Shaymin. As a result, the farm's security level had risen by who knows how many levels.
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