"Clap clap!"
Silas clapped his hands to draw the attention of the three little ones. "You're up next. Are you ready?"
Having changed into a delicate princess dress, Diancie clasped her hands tightly together. She was clearly the most nervous of the trio.
Minccino was doing much better. It still had the leisure to observe the performance currently taking place on stage, its bright eyes carefully studying every movement.
The most carefree of them all was Popplio. It carried a sort of carefree, almost reckless charm, like a cracked jar that had already given up worrying about breaking any further.
Hm? Where was Popplio?
Silas glanced around but could not spot Popplio anywhere. Fortunately, with Diancie's reminder, he quickly found it.
The little fellow was sprawled across a wooden crate, looking extremely sneaky, as though it were hiding some grand secret.
"Popplio, Popplio!"
Silas called out and gave it a light pat on the back.
Popplio seemed to snap out of its daze. When it saw that it was Silas, it immediately made a soft shushing sound and gestured for him to listen carefully.
Confused, Silas leaned sideways and brought his ear closer.
A faint and somewhat unclear electric melody drifted into his ears. The tune was unmistakably the very song the three little ones had just been rehearsing.
Silas froze for a moment. He had not expected that another Pokémon was hiding back here.
And it was using electronic sound effects. Completely different from Minccino and Diancie's natural singing voices, the electronic rendition sounded oddly mismatched and slightly chaotic.
"A Pokémon that can do electronic music?" Silas pondered briefly before arriving at a guess. "Could it be Toxtricity?"
Judging by the way it was hiding and humming softly to itself, it was probably a Low Key form Toxtricity, the quieter and more reserved kind.
Just as Silas was debating whether he should go over and take a look, a staff member from the evening event approached and informed them that it was time to prepare for their performance.
Mr. Mime's mime act had just ended, and warm applause erupted from the audience.
"Popplio, it's time to get ready for the stage."
Silas lifted Popplio into his arms and carefully adjusted its small outfit.
The three little ones stood neatly in a row, waiting for the curtain in front of them to rise.
Silas remained off to the side, clenching his fists as he silently cheered them on.
None of them noticed that a pink, round little Pokémon was struggling to climb up onto the wooden crate again, gazing at the soon to perform trio with admiration and envy shining in its eyes.
It felt inferior because its singing voice was different from others of its kind. Performing on stage was out of the question. It did not even have the courage to sing in front of other people or Pokémon, afraid of being disliked or rejected.
Earlier, when it happened to pass by, it had heard Minccino rehearsing. It truly loved their singing, which was why it had hidden in the back and secretly hummed along.
As the curtains slowly parted from both sides, the three little ones stepped onto the stage.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, as soon as Minccino and the others appeared on screen, the Pokémon who had seemed bored immediately perked up.
Tonight, every single Pokémon at the ranch had gathered.
The Indeedee siblings had moved the television outside so that everyone could watch together.
Veluza, Relicanth, and a shiny Clauncher stayed inside their water tank. Clauncher raised its massive claw slightly, silently cheering for Minccino.
Alcremie and Dolliv held hands, visibly excited. Sister Minccino and the others were simply amazing. Being able to perform under so many gazes was incredible.
Morpeko poked its head out from a pile of sunflower seed shells, gave the screen a brief glance, and then continued searching for stray sunflower kernels among the shells.
Three Meowth sat together on a long bench, quietly observing.
Behind them, Tropius and Meganium were pressed close together in affectionate bliss, inseparable from morning until night.
Further back stood the Mudsdale and the others, with Floette floating above their heads as it watched the performance.
Then there were all the Carbink. This was their Princess Diancie's first performance. As her subjects, not being able to cheer for her in person already made them feel inadequate. If they were to miss the performance entirely, that would be unforgivably disloyal.
Carbink collectively declared in their hearts that there was only one sun shining there, and that was Princess Diancie.
They stood together in formation, gemstones of various colors embedded around them glowing brilliantly in the night. Through the television screen, they offered their support to Princess Diancie.
At the very outer edge stood three large Noivern. As they listened to the song, they scratched their ears.
They exchanged glances with one another and, for once, reached the same conclusion.
This song was dangerously catchy.
After hearing only the opening, the scales along their bodies bristled upright, goosebumps seemingly falling everywhere. They even showed signs of wanting to turn around and leave.
At the fireworks festival venue, Cyclizar was firmly holding onto Phione. At first, the little one had been fine. But the moment it saw Minccino and the others step onto the stage, it wanted to rush up and sing with them.
After all, at the ranch, it often sang together with them.
"Cyc!"
Cyclizar patiently tried to explain, all for the sake of earning himself a little red flower of merit.
Little Phione tilted its head in confusion and blinked, letting out an extremely loud "Phion" cry while clapping enthusiastically for Minccino on stage. Its tiny hands turned red from clapping, yet it did not even notice.
Holding down the restless Phione, Cyclizar wore an expression full of the helpless exhaustion that came from babysitting.
It was truly a bitter struggle.
Beside them, Steven did not notice the commotion at all. His entire focus was fixed on Diancie, who was singing softly on stage.
He held up his camera and snapped photos nonstop, every shot crystal clear and beautiful.
Soon, however, Steven realized a problem.
One person's productivity was simply not enough. When he returned, he would hire an entire professional photography team dedicated to following the ranch band.
On stage, the three little ones continued their performance. In the audience below, there was complete silence.
Everyone was utterly immersed in their singing.
Diancie's crystal clear voice, Minccino's playful tone, and Popplio's endearing simplicity were all etched deeply into the hearts of the audience.
As the final note fell, the three little ones bowed deeply toward the crowd.
Instantly, thunderous applause erupted from below the stage.
The audience rose to their feet, clapping enthusiastically to show their love and appreciation.
In that moment, the three little ones felt that all their previous hard work had been worthwhile.
Receiving recognition from so many people made them incomparably happy. They could not wait to share their joy with Silas.
Backstage, Silas watched this scene and quietly let out a sigh of relief. The smile on his lips could no longer be concealed.
Soon enough, he was surrounded by three Pokémon.
Diancie was the first to throw herself into his arms, rubbing her head against him, her voice still trembling with excitement. "Silas, Silas, we did it. So many people liked it."
"Yes, you did."
Silas nodded and gently stroked her head.
He had witnessed all of Diancie's effort with his own eyes.
Minccino puffed out its little cheeks and, unwilling to be outdone, climbed into Silas's arms as well.
It wanted praise too. It deserved compliments.
Silas laughed softly and praised Minccino as well.
Just as he was about to compliment the last little one, he suddenly heard a heavy thud from behind.
Turning toward the sound, he saw a pink figure tumble down from the wooden crate.
Popplio leaped onto the crate and called out toward the ground below, as if saying, "Found you, the Pokémon that sings electronic music."
In contrast, the electronic sound Pokémon shook its head vigorously in denial before turning to run away.
However, after only a few steps, it bumped into Kangaskhan's leg.
Kangaskhan reached out and gently gathered the frightened Pokémon, which had curled itself into a trembling little ball, into her arms.
As her paw lightly poked it, the round little body quivered. Soft sobbing and choked cries could be heard from within. It had been frightened to tears.
Kangaskhan immediately used her other hand to gently pat its round back, her voice soothing and warm.
"Kang~"
(Do not be afraid. No one here is bad. No one will hurt you.)
(End of Chapter)