Ron hadn't actually ntioned the reward to them.
After all, he didn't think Team Rocket would want a straw hat.
So when Evelyn made the request to him, Ron paused for a mont before quickly agreeing.
"Are you sure they want that prize?" Ron double-checked with Evelyn. After receiving a definite yes, he returned to his cabin, still a bit bewildered.
However, since Pokémon were like children to everyone, and because Abigail had dropped out of the competition, Lewis made an exception to allow Pokémon to participate in the Egg Festival egg hunt this ti.
The one participating from Ron's farm was a Rattata that loved collecting accessories.
For this Rattata, finding these colorfully painted eggs, no matter what corner they were hidden in, was an absolute breeze.
Especially since this Rattata had even done so special training for it. With Ron's permission, it would gather so eggs every day, have everyone hide them around the farm, and then track them all down.
At this point, it was safe to say the Rattata could find every single egg within the competition's ti limit.
But it didn't matter if Team Rocket wanted to join in the fun too.
With that in mind, Ron stopped overthinking it and went back to his work.
Ti skipped to the day of the Egg Festival.
As agreed, Jessie, Jas, and owth, accompanied by Evelyn, wrapped up their work on the Ginger Island farm and used the farm's Warp Totem to teleport to a corner of the main farm.
"Let's go." Evelyn clapped her hands. "It's been a long ti since I've done that kind of manual labor."
"Thank you for your hard work," Jessie said.
Evelyn shook her head. While washing her hands in the pond, she said, "I'm really happy. It feels like I'm young again—goodness knows how long it's been since I moved around like that."
She even felt like her bones were about to fall apart, but keeping so busy made her feel truly alive again.
It was like her rusty parts had been oiled and were finally turning again.
After packing up their things, the group headed toward the Egg Festival venue.
Since Pokémon were participating as well, Ron was called in to help set up the venue.
Ron and Indeedee strolled around, hiding the eggs in their hands in various concealed spots.
This was a task reserved only for non-participants, and Indeedee wasn't particularly interested in searching for things anyway—even though today was technically the anniversary of the day it t Ron.
Besides, even if they did find a mystery egg, one Indeedee was more than enough.
Indeedee had absolutely no desire to bring another Indeedee back to the farm.
One mountain can't house two tigers, and one farm couldn't house two butlers.
Not too far away, although she felt a bit embarrassed, Jodi had also joined the competition.
It wasn't to recapture her lost youth or anything like that.
It was purely because she had learned that Ron's Indeedee egg was found on this very day during the Egg Festival.
Even though she knew finding a Pokémon egg wasn't that easy, Jodi still decided to participate with a "just try it" ntality.
"I don't want it just to do chores," she muttered, praying to Yoba. To make sure her intentions didn't seem too utilitarian, she quickly added, "To share the load, to share the load. Not a maid, not a servant, nor a butler, but family."
"Indeedee?"
The passing Indeedee turned its head, looking at Jodi, who had her back turned to the square as required for the competition.
"..."
Hearing the sound, Jodi felt a wave of embarrassnt and slowly turned her head. "Good morning."
"Indeedee!"
"It says no cheating," Ron helpfully translated.
"Oh, sorry, sorry." Jodi turned her head back, continuing to stare blankly into the distance. "Not a maid, not a servant—"
"Indeedee." Indeedee looked up at Ron.
"What?" Ron had just turned off his Mind Reader ability, but seeing Indeedee's earnest expression, he turned it back on.
"Indeedee."
I'm so glad you were the one who found .
"Ah—thank you," Ron said. He paused, unable to stop himself from thinking: Is there really a difference between working on my farm and working at Jodi's house?
If anything, Jodi's house might actually be easier.
The mont that thought crossed his mind, Ron hurriedly started humming a tune in his head to drown it out.
"Indeedee? Indeedee!!!!"
"I don't understand, I'm leaving, I've got things to do," Ron said, awkwardly walking away while humming his song.
"Indeedee!"
Indeedee fiercely kicked a nearby tree, and the very next second, a Pokémon egg dropped from the branches.
"..." Indeedee silently glanced at Jodi in the distance, placed the egg in a corner, and hurriedly walked away.
"Indeedee."
If you end up becoming a servant—you brought it on yourself.
Thinking this, Indeedee quickly left the area.
Once everything was prepped, it was almost ti for the event to start.
Lewis looked at the massive crowd of Pokémon, as well as the people who were clearly over the age limit but still shalessly standing in the lineup. After a mont of silence, he said, "Let's begin. Having a lot of people is a good thing; at least there won't be any uncollected eggs left rotting in the corners this year."
That thing was practically a biological weapon.
The ticking ti bomb kind, too. No one could predict exactly when that rotten egg left in so corner would suddenly pop.
And then fill the surrounding area with an unspeakable stench for a week.
You could say that Trubbish was the only one in town who would actually enjoy that.
Lewis thought to himself, then cast another glance at the box containing the straw hat nearby.
'Is this thing really that highly sought after? Or is it just this year's fashion trend?' Lewis wondered uncertainly.
Out in the square, Jodi was searching while continuously praying. To ensure she didn't miss any chance of stumbling upon a Pokémon egg, she was inching forward at an incredibly slow pace.
Just then, she noticed a flash of light, followed a second later by another streak of white.
"owth saw this one first, ow!"
owth clutched the painted egg, glaring at the Rattata, whose bag was already stuffed full of painted eggs.
"Rattata!"
"No way! owth wants that prize too, ow!" owth declared, hugging the egg in its arms even tighter.
"Rattata." The Rattata cried out at owth again.
"You're just one straw hat away from collecting the full set of hats, ow." owth repeated the Rattata's words out loud, before suddenly realizing what it said: "Hats?!! Straw hat?!"
"Rattata." The Rattata chid in.
"..." owth stared at the painted egg in its arms in disbelief. After a long pause, it tiptoed over to the nearby box.
Lifting the lid, there sat a plain, unadorned straw hat, just sitting right there in the box.
"—Here, take it, ow." owth silently handed the painted egg over to the Rattata, then cast a glance at Jessie and Jas, who were still scurrying around enthusiastically searching for eggs.
"—It's probably best if we don't tell them about this, ow."
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