[Coconut Crab Soup: Dish Effect: Century Soup · Sweet:… (Note: extremely effective on Shadow Pokémon)]
As usual, the first thing he did was pour a bowl for the drooling Morpeko beside him.
Bringing Diancie, Cinccino, and Popplio along, Silas walked to the place where the Shadow Mandibuzz was being held. Giant Dragonite and Cyclizar had already been waiting there for quite some time.
"Everyone drink a bowl of the Coconut Crab Soup first, then sing together."
"Cin!"
"Lioo!"
"Got it!"
The three Pokémon responded happily. They each held up a bowl and gulped it down quickly. As soon as the soup took effect, the cooking buff activated on them, granting a Sweet Explosion effect.
Given Mandibuzz's current violent state, touching it was completely out of the question. The only option was to use song as a medium.
"Cin~ Cin… Nooo~!"
(Pain Pain Go Away…)
"…."
At Silas's signal, the three Pokémon began humming together.
Their voices carried a mysterious power, transforming into lively musical notes that danced through the air and surrounded Mandibuzz.
The notes slowly and steadily seeped into Mandibuzz's body, while the cooking effect quietly began to influence it from within.
The first change appeared in Mandibuzz's emotions.
The brown feathers that had been bristling all over its body like steel needles gradually softened, as if they had been soaked in warm water. One by one they settled down and lay flat against its back.
It also stopped wildly smashing its sharp beak against the cage bars and instead froze in place without moving.
The eyes that had been filled with bloodshot crimson veins slowly lost their violent rage, revealing a faint trace of clarity.
Mandibuzz had regained a bit of rationality and could now communicate.
However, the layer of shadow aura surrounding its body had not yet disappeared. Silas gave Cinccino and the others a look.
The effect had not reached the expected level. Increase the intensity.
At the same time, under Cyclizar's protection, Silas stepped closer to the Shadow Mandibuzz and slowly, cautiously stretched out his hand.
Cyclizar's entire body tensed beside him. Its muscles were tightly coiled and ready to attack at any moment in case of sudden danger, ensuring that Silas would not be harmed.
"Mandibuzz, are you alright?"
"Mand… Mandi!"
Mandibuzz let out an extremely weary cry. Having been forced to become a Shadow Pokémon, it had been suffering from the torment of shadow energy every single moment.
Now that it was finally being freed from that suffering, an overwhelming exhaustion swept over it.
"Don't talk yet. Mandibuzz, come eat something first."
Silas took out a prepared Poffin and offered it to Mandibuzz's beak.
Mustering a bit of strength, Mandibuzz lightly pecked at the food.
Before long, the entire Poffin had been eaten. Mandibuzz let out a cry of gratitude toward Silas.
Taking advantage of the moment, Silas reached out and gently stroked Mandibuzz's messy feathers. His palm moved in a slow and steady rhythm.
Mandibuzz seemed to feel a sense of safety. It leaned closer to Silas and lightly rubbed against his palm.
At that moment, the shadow aura surrounding Mandibuzz completely dissipated, and Mandibuzz returned to normal.
The tightly furrowed expression on its face relaxed. The trembling of its body gradually stopped, and even its breathing became calm and steady.
Seeing this, Cinccino and the others softened their singing, turning it into something resembling a lullaby.
Their own Jigglypuff was not very good at lullabies, but surprisingly it had managed to teach Cinccino. Their voices turned out to be unexpectedly well suited for it.
While Mandibuzz slept, a sweet bubble appeared above its head. Images flickered inside the bubble one after another.
Mandibuzz was clearly having a beautiful dream.
Silas withdrew his gaze from Mandibuzz. At this point Mandibuzz should be fine and no longer in danger.
Still, he did not release it from the cage right away. He decided to observe it for another day just to be safe.
After all, this was the first time he had ever encountered a Shadow Pokémon.
"Cuc~"
Cyclizar raised its head and handed something to Silas with its dragon claws.
"A stone that fell off Mandibuzz?"
Taking it with curiosity, Silas held it in his hand. At the same moment, the system panel responded.
The stone was about the size of a quail egg, and its surface emitted a rainbow colored glow.
[Resonance Stone: A special stone. Effect unknown.]
Well, even the golden finger did not know what it was for. For now it could only be kept as a collectible.
After putting away the Resonance Stone, Silas worked together with the Indeedee siblings to give Mandibuzz a full physical examination and treat the injuries on its body.
Once everything was done, Silas took the Pokémon with him and temporarily left the area so that Mandibuzz could rest properly.
Just as he returned to the ranch cabin, Cyclizar immediately blocked his path.
"Cyc!"
Its forelegs tightly clutched his pant leg while its head kept pushing insistently into his chest.
"Alright, alright, I will get your little red flower right away." Silas gave Cyclizar a firm pat on the head to signal it to let go, then stood up to retrieve it.
He stuck a small red flower onto Cyclizar's forehead.
"Is this good enough?"
"Cyc!"
Cyclizar happily responded, then turned and ran off toward its little nest.
It pulled out all the small red flowers it had hidden away and carefully counted them. There were ten in total. Cyclizar trotted back to Silas and showed them to him.
"So you already have ten flowers."
Silas glanced at them.
"Cyclizar, have you decided what small wish you want to exchange them for?"
Cyclizar first cautiously looked left and right, making sure there were no other Pokémon nearby the ranch cabin. Only then did it quietly speak.
"Cyc… Cyc!"
(I want Silas to go with me to the amusement park for one whole day. Just the two of us, without Cinccino and the others.)
"Just that?"
"Cyc!"
Cyclizar nodded happily. Being able to have Silas accompany it alone for an entire day was already enough to satisfy it.
It wanted to ride the pirate ship, the roller coaster, go bungee jumping, ride the merry-go-round…
Sure enough, his Cyclizar still had the heart of a child.
Seeing the sparkling anticipation in Cyclizar's eyes, Silas placed his hand on its head.
"No problem. I will only bring you. None of the little ones."
Cyclizar spun excitedly in circles on the spot. Its claws scratched the floor, and its tail whipped around so energetically that it struck the sofa like a lash.
Cyclizar was extremely happy and had already begun thinking about all the attractions it wanted Silas to ride with it.
Since they had just returned today, there were still many things at the ranch that required Silas's attention. The trip to the amusement park would have to be postponed.
Cyclizar did not mind at all. As long as Silas would accompany it, that was enough.
After resting for a while, Silas called Cyclizar and prepared to patrol the ranch to check on the conditions of the Pokémon living there.
They first arrived at the berry orchard.
Rows of special berry trees were growing vigorously. Small blossoms filled the branches among the leaves, and Butterfree were helping pollinate them.
Applin and Flapple were also trying to help in their own ways. Everyone was putting in effort.
"Thank you for your hard work, everyone. I brought a fruit platter for you. Come eat together."
Silas shouted toward the orchard while taking the fruit tray down from Cyclizar's back.
The group of Pokémon that heard him quickly finished their work and gathered around Silas.
"Go ahead and eat. I will go check on the Chikorita eggs and the others."
Standing up, Silas walked to the small house on the side. Meganium and Tropius were both there, and Fletchinder was helping incubate eggs.
Not long after Silas left, the Red Core Zygarde could no longer resist the temptation of the berries and crawled out from the grass.
The other Pokémon were already used to it. They simply made space for it, and everyone ate together.
"Have something to eat first. I will check on the Chikorita eggs."
Placing the berry platter in front of Meganium, Silas received permission before gently lifting one of the Pokémon eggs with both hands.
(End of Chapter)