Silas brought Popplio over to the other Pokémon, then took out some small snacks from his spatial shoulder bag and handed them to it.
"Try it—see if the flavor suits your taste?"
"Lioo!"
Popplio sniffed at the snack, grabbed a bite, and stuffed it into its mouth to sample it.
It was sweet, with a faint floral fragrance mixed in. Popplio instantly fell in love with the taste.
Meeting Silas's gaze, Popplio nodded vigorously, clearly expressing that it was delicious.
"Min?"
A voice came from the side as Minccino ran over with Serena.
Taking Minccino into his arms and pinching its little cheeks, Silas introduced them, "This is Popplio, a Water-type Pokémon."
"Lioo~"
Popplio clapped its flippers and greeted Minccino and the others in a very familiar, friendly manner.
"So cute!" Serena released the Morpeko she was holding, squatted down happily, and poked Popplio.
Popplio's adorable appearance was extremely popular with girls, and Popplio itself enjoyed being the center of attention—it had a heart that loved to show off.
"Popplio, do you have any special abilities?"
Serena gently stroked it and asked curiously.
Minccino was soft and fragrant, Morpeko was incredibly good at eating—so what about Popplio?
"Liooo!"
Popplio, which had been waiting for exactly this question, leapt up and ran over to an open patch of sand nearby.
It lifted its head high and blew a bubble from its bright red nose.
At first, the bubble was only about the size of a fist, but as time passed, it grew larger and larger, eventually reaching the size of a basketball.
"That's amazing!"
Serena clapped enthusiastically, which only encouraged Popplio to perform even harder.
Whispering something into Minccino's ear, Silas set it down.
Minccino dashed off, calling over Flabébé, Meowth, and Mareep.
Very soon, with Popplio at the center, a circle of Pokémon gathered around it.
Minccino spoke first, "Min~"
(So amazing! So amazing!)
Flabébé: "Bébé!"
Meowth: "Meow… meow!"
Mareep: "Meeh meeh meeh…"
The gazes of so many Pokémon, combined with Minccino's enthusiastic praise, made Popplio feel completely over the mLioon.
The entire Pokémon stepped onto the bubble, using its elasticity to bounce up into the air, performing a full three-hundred-and-sixty-degree spinning flip before landing lightly on the ground.
Afterward, it bowed politely toward the gathered Pokémon to express its thanks. The little guy clearly had impressive performance talent.
Clap clap clap~
Serena was especially excited, her small hands clapping nonstop, applause echoing continuously until her palms turned red.
The surrounding Pokémon's excited cries also didn't stop—Popplio's performance was indeed very entertaining.
"Min~"
(One more! One more!)
Following Minccino's lead, all the Pokémon chimed in.
Unable to withstand their enthusiasm, Popplio decided to perform one more act.
It began blowing another bubble—this one was huge, large enough to fit Popplio entirely inside.
Just as Popplio was about to release it and step onto the bubble, a gust of wind blew in from the seaside.
The bubble floated up and drifted toward the nearby forest.
Popplio hurried after it—its performance absolutely couldn't go wrong.
Minccino and the others looked at one another, then followed close behind.
A whole crowd of Pokémon surged forward, chasing after the giant bubble.
At that very moment, a dark shadow suddenly dropped from the sky, falling straight toward the large bubble.
"Lioo!"
(No—don't!)
Popplio, who loved showing off and cared deeply about its image, absolutely did not want to make a performance mistake in front of so many Pokémon.
But there was still some distance between it and the giant bubble. It couldn't catch up in time and could only watch helplessly as the bubble collided with the dark shape falling from above.
The expected popping sound never came.
Instead, the giant bubble tightly wrapped around the suddenly appearing Pokémon.
When they arrived closer, Minccino circled the big bubble once, its small face filled with shock.
"Min!"
(That's amazing—was this also part of your plan, Popplio?)
"Lioo?" Popplio scratched its head, then reacted and replied confidently, "Lioo~"
(Of course! I noticed earlier that this Pokémon was about to fall, so I controlled the water bubble to float over and catch it.)
Popplio admitted it without a hint of embarrassment.
"Min~"
(What kind of Pokémon is this?)
The gathered Pokémon shLiook their heads—none of them recognized it.
Alolan Meowth spoke up, "It looks like a bird Pokémon, but it's so fat—can it really fly?"
Its round body rivaled that of a lazy sheep, making everyone seriously suspect that it had fallen simply because it had eaten tLioo much and crashed, definitely not because someone had knocked it out of the sky.
Since no one recognized it, Warm Mareep—suggested, "Meeh meeh!"
(Let's take it to Silas. Silas will definitely know.)
The Pokémon nodded in agreement. Silas knew many things—he would surely recognize the Pokémon inside the bubble.
So, led by Popplio carrying the water bubble, the Pokémon went to find Silas.
Silas had just lain down after letting Serena help apply sunscreen when he suddenly felt the sunlight disappear in front of his eyes.
Opening them, he saw that he was completely surrounded by Pokémon.
Minccino leapt straight onto Silas's stomach, tugging at him with its little hands.
"Min~ Min!"
"Alright, alright, I'll go with you."
Draining the last mouthful of fruit juice in one gulp, Silas picked up Minccino and placed it on top of his head.
Surrounded by the Pokémon, he walked to the shade beneath the tree near Noivern.
As soon as he arrived, he saw the Pokémon trapped inside the water bubble.
He hadn't expected to encounter two Alolan starter Pokémon in a single day.
And both were wild—his luck was good enough to buy a lottery ticket.
"Is it… asleep? That's some nerve."
Getting closer, Silas could see clearly now—the Pokémon trapped inside the water bubble had its head tilted to one side and was snoring loudly.
"Min?"
"Lioo?"
Minccino on his head tugged at his hair nonstop, eagerly demanding answers.
"Hey, hey! Be gentle—don't pull my hair out. I don't want to go bald at a young age!"
(＞人＜;)
Minccino let go and even patted him reassuringly, indicating he wouldn't go bald.
Rolling his eyes at it, Silas met the curious gazes of the Pokémon and explained.
"This is Rowlet, a Grass/Bird-type Pokémon."
Unlike other bird Pokémon, Rowlet had an oval-shaped body.
Its face was white, shaped somewhat like an infinity symbol, and its body was covered in brown feathers except for its tail feathers.
On its chest were two green, leaf-shaped bow ties, giving it a strangely cute yet serious appearance.
This was Rowlet—a little guy whose head could rotate a full 180 degrees, and who spent its days either sleeping or looking for a place to sleep.
From Minccino's account, Rowlet had suddenly fallen from the sky.
Silas strongly suspected that Rowlet had been flying, gotten too sleepy, and then simply fallen asleep midair.
Considering Rowlet's personality, it wasn't impossible—in fact, it was highly likely. You could even say it was normal behavior.
Thanks to Rowlet's body structure, it could control its weight to be as light as a leaf.
Despite looking chubby, it was actually all "fake fat."
A standard Rowlet stood about 30 centimeters tall and weighed only around three jin.
Silas instructed Popplio to pop the bubble so that Rowlet wouldn't suffocate to death.
Otherwise, there would have to be yet another bizarre cause of death added to the list.
(End of Chapter)