New Year was a phrase that stirred longing, both in his previous life and in this world. Perhaps the biggest difference between New Year in the Pokémon world and in his previous life was the holiday travel rush. In his previous life, it became a topic of discussion every year, and those who had experienced it firsthand found it painfully unforgettable. In the Pokémon world, however, the existence of Pokémon made the travel rush much less complicated. Many people chose to ride their own Pokémon home.
On the ground, there were Pokémon like Tauros that excelled at long-distance running, and there were even more flying Pokémon in the sky. That made New Year the busiest time of year for the Officer Jennys and Nurse Joys, since they also had to patrol the skies. It was an extremely troublesome and tedious job.
In his previous life, there had been convoys of motorcyclists heading home, while this world had convoys of Pokémon riders. Not everyone had a Pokémon suitable for carrying them home, though, so long-distance transportation such as cars remained very popular. Heath planned to drive himself this year. Fortunately, he did not need to go to Viridian City, though he would probably still have to make a trip back after New Year's Eve to visit the Officer Jennys there.
The Officer Jennys were extremely busy over New Year. Many of them probably only got five or six hours of sleep a day during that period.
Fortunately, none of that had much to do with Heath. Although he had once nearly become an Officer Jenny himself, he was not one now. He was just an ordinary chef, so naturally, he did not need to worry about those sorts of problems.
"Let's close up." Heath glanced at his phone. It was about