Professor Oak's Laboratory.
While preparations for dinner were underway in distant Jubilife City in Sinnoh, things were bustling here as well.
Crystal and Yellow were running around helping, while Green was busy directing the setup.
Green could barely bring himself to comment. "Snover dressed up as a Christmas tree... who has a Christmas tree that short?!"
Blue waved a hand dismissively. "Oh, come on. As long as it works."
Green gritted his teeth. "Fine, I'll put up with Snover. But what's Snorunt supposed to be?!"
Blue coughed. "A little Christmas tree!"
In stark contrast to them, Akin and Red were having a wilderness battle.
In a regulation battle, Akin probably couldn't beat Red even once in a hundred attempts at his current level.
Especially since Red kept improving.
But in a wilderness battle, where he could take advantage of all kinds of terrain, Akin had one unexpected trick after another.
Green said helplessly, "Hey, hey! Watch the grounds!"
Although Green loved battling too, destroying the backyard of Professor Oak's Laboratory was out of the question.
Professor Oak laughed heartily, taking it all in stride.
"It's fine. We can fix it up next year."
Besides the funding provided by the Pokémon League, the Grass-type Pokémon also maintained the yard of their own accord.
Being farther south, Pallet Town was considerably warmer, but it was still winter.
Like Li Wei and his group, Green and the others had ultimately decided on an outdoor hot pot.
The reason was simple: the hot pot base Li Wei made was delicious.
After their last meeting on Mirror Lake Island, Green had specifically asked Li Wei for some in preparation for today.
Although Ash was eager to rush over for the gathering, he had still gone with Brock to buy some ingredients first.
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