"Meow?"
"Gyc!"
"Kang."
"Indee~" x2
"Shh." Silas pressed himself against the peephole and looked outside. When he saw that Jigglypuff had not turned around, he gently opened the door. "Move slowly, everyone. Let's follow quietly."
Led by Kangaskhan, the group of Pokémon crept silently beside Silas as they trailed after Jigglypuff.
Walking at the very front, Jigglypuff had no idea that it had a whole group of little tails following behind.
With its short legs taking small determined steps, Jigglypuff headed toward the back hill of the ranch. It finally sat down on a tree stump.
Its big round eyes gradually filled with unshed tears as memories of the past surfaced in its mind.
But then it thought about everyone at the ranch, and about the invitation from big sister Minccino.
Suddenly, Jigglypuff sprang to its feet. Its tiny hands clenched tightly. "Jigglypuff! Puff!"
"Huh. What is going on? Jigglypuff's fighting spirit has been ignited."
Hidden behind the bushes, Silas muttered to himself.
The Indeedee siblings shook their heads slightly, but they could clearly feel the powerful positive emotions radiating from Jigglypuff at that moment.
Jigglypuff glanced left and right to make sure no other Pokémon were nearby.
It picked up a small flower from the roadside and treated it like a microphone, holding it close to its mouth as it began to hum softly.
"Ji! Ji! Ji! Jigglypuff! Ji! Ji! Ji! Jigglypuff! Ji! Ji! Ji! Jigglypuff!"
(TN: I don't know how to make it sing!)
It was an electronic rock version of a lullaby.
Completely different from the usual soft and sweet voice typical of Jigglypuff, this one that supposedly did not like singing possessed the purest West Coast electronic sound.
Its voice was mesmerizing, filled with a strong rock style and an intense sense of rhythm.
This was a born rock singer. Just look at the little tuft of hair standing proudly on its forehead.
Rock was meant to be flamboyant and confident.
After finishing the song, however, negative emotions surged up from within Jigglypuff.
Unlike other Jigglypuff, whose singing sometimes caused minor trouble, its electronic style had brought it far greater difficulties. The first and biggest problem was that it could not sing the traditional Jigglypuff song together with others of its kind.
The more it thought about it, the sadder it became. Tears pooled in its eyes.
At that very moment, a round of applause sounded from behind it.
Startled, Jigglypuff turned around and saw everyone standing there.
It felt like it might as well have died from embarrassment.
"Jigglypuff…"
"Jigglypuff." Silas crouched down and gently wiped away the tears on its cheeks, meeting its gaze seriously. "Your singing is beautiful."
"Jiggly..."
"I would never lie to you. You can ask everyone."
Silas guided Jigglypuff to look toward Kangaskhan and the others.
"Kang!"
Kangaskhan raised a thumbs up. Alolan Meowth and male Indeedee nodded in agreement.
Cyclizar even imitated Jigglypuff's humming, while female Indeedee stepped forward and pulled Jigglypuff into a hug, praising it warmly.
"See? Everyone likes it," Silas said with a smile. "And when you ran out here alone in the middle of the night, everyone was very worried about you."
"Jigglypuff..."
Hearing that, Jigglypuff felt deeply ashamed.
Everyone at the ranch had been so kind to it, yet it had only caused them trouble.
"As long as you know it was wrong, that's enough." Silas reached out and gently ruffled the tuft of hair on its forehead. "Your rock voice cannot go to waste. I plan to invite you to be the lead singer of a rock band."
Right now, what little Jigglypuff needed most was confidence, so Silas gave it his greatest trust.
"Jigglypuff."
Jigglypuff's first reaction was to shake its head in refusal.
"The role of rock lead singer belongs to you alone. Jigglypuff, your talent is extraordinary."
Silas spoke earnestly.
There was probably only one Jigglypuff in the entire world that could sing electronic rock like this. How could its talent possibly be low?
Kangaskhan and female Indeedee also offered words of encouragement from the side. This time, Jigglypuff gathered its courage.
It raised its tiny fist high and shouted, "Jigglypuff!"
(Silas, I want to try!)
"Good." Silas gently squeezed its soft elastic cheek. "Little Jigglypuff will definitely succeed."
Carrying Jigglypuff back toward the house, Cyclizar held up a flashlight to light the way.
As they walked, Silas pondered something. Rock punk performances needed dazzling lights, did they not?
He could completely invite Helioptile and Heliolisk to help. The frills around their necks could gather and project light for stage effects.
Perfect. The stage lighting crew was settled.
Tomorrow, they could let the little ones try it out.
As for now.
"Jigg…."
Jigglypuff let out a big yawn. It was sleepy too.
After returning to the house, Silas sent all the Pokémon back to bed.
He carried Jigglypuff into the master bedroom, where a group of little ones were already sleeping soundly on the bed.
This bit of movement was nowhere near enough to wake them.
Silas placed the Jigglypuff that had fallen asleep against him beside Minccino, then lay down himself and drifted into dreams.
The next morning, at the first light of dawn, Minccino woke up and saw Jigglypuff sleeping beside it. It let out a delighted cry, and the two little ones immediately began chirping excitedly on the bed.
Silas could not continue sleeping through the noise, so he got up and lightly flicked both of their foreheads.
While they were still eating breakfast, Minccino announced that it wanted to hear Jigglypuff sing.
"Min!"
Dolliv, Alcremie, and a few other little ones raised their tiny hands as well. They wanted to listen too.
"Let me finish today's work first. I will build a simple stage for you."
The ranch was no longer in its early construction phase, and much of Silas's workload had been shared.
The crops in the five fields were still growing, so he left them in the care of the Mudsdale trio.
Half of the ranch lake was covered with lotus leaves, neatly trimmed by Clauncher.
When winter came, he could have Clauncher help harvest lotus roots for soup. That would be incredibly delicious.
The fruit forest was managed by Litten and Butterfree, who helped drive away pest Pokémon and harvested ripe berries on schedule every day.
Next to it was the berry orchard, tended by Tropius and Meganium. Besides caring for seedlings, the two of them were inseparable daily.
If one day they presented him with a few eggs, Silas would not be surprised at all.
He then headed to the greenhouse, where five types of flowers were thriving under the careful cultivation of the Floette.
After greeting the Meowth that were waiting for silver coins, Silas asked Cyclizar to call over a Heliolisk and Helioptile for assistance.
While waiting, Kangaskhan helped transport wood as Silas constructed a simple stage on the lawn in front of the cabin.
A red curtain divided the front and back areas, creating a proper performance space for the little ones.
Before he had even finished, Minccino had already climbed onto it to test it out.
Soon Silas saw the Helioptile he had summoned.
"Heliolisk, I need your help with something."
"Helio!"
Patting its chest confidently with its paw, Heliolisk agreed without hesitation.
"It is like this." Silas explained his needs and described the general effect he wanted to achieve.
Heliolisk thought for only a short moment before giving a clear answer. It could do it.
It then spread open the frill around its neck as a demonstration. Sunlight struck the frill, causing it to glow with a bright white light. A concentrated beam then shone directly onto the small stage.
"Perfect." Silas clapped his hands and expressed his approval.
"Helio~"
Heliolisk narrowed its eyes happily. Being able to help Silas was more than enough.
"Jigglypuff, are you ready?"
"Jigglypuff..."
From behind the red curtain came Jigglypuff's response as it slowly stepped onto the stage.
The little one's face was tense, looking as if it might burst into tears at any moment, which made it appear especially comical.
When it saw the group of small audience members below, nervousness inevitably crept in.
Fortunately, Minccino was there. It faithfully repeated to Jigglypuff the exact words Silas had once taught them about easing stage fright.
"Jigglypuff!"
The ones below are just radishes and cabbages. Jigglypuff, you can do it.
(End of Chapter)