Silas's eyes widened instantly. He immediately scooped up the wobbling Minccino from the sofa and pulled her into his arms.
"Who told you to drink alcohol? How much did you have?"
"Min~ hic! Min~ hic!"
Being suddenly hugged, Minccino twisted her body in dissatisfaction and even let out a full, satisfied alcoholic burp right into his face.
Silas held down her flailing limbs, but the little one's words were completely slurred and incoherent—he couldn't understand a single thing she was trying to say.
Everyone had been busy that afternoon. No one had been keeping an eye on Minccino and the other little troublemakers.
There was no telling when they had started drinking—or just how much they had consumed.
Out of the corner of his eye, Silas glanced toward the other Pokémon sprawled across the sofa.
Dolliv and Alcremie had clearly drunk quite a bit as well. The two small Pokémon leaned against each other. Dolliv's cheeks were red as fully ripened cherries, while tiny bubbles were rising from Alcremie's cream-formed body.
Freeing one hand, Silas checked their temperatures. They were only slightly warm—there didn't seem to be any other abnormal reactions.
"Li-oo!"
A sudden cry drew his attention elsewhere. He turned toward the source of the sound and saw that one of the empty wine barrels was no longer empty at all.
Inside it was a Popplio.
The little sea lion was clinging to the inner wall of the barrel, and a huge drunken bubble was inflating and deflating from its pink clown-like nose. Its sea-blue fur was stained with a faint layer of pink wine residue. Its face was even redder than Dolliv's—it had obviously crawled into the barrel to secretly drink and was now too drunk to climb back out.
His gaze swept over the four Pokémon in turn. Silas pressed a hand to his forehead.
"Sister Indeedee, could you please help watch them for a moment? Your brother and I will go to the kitchen and make some sobering soup."
Judging from their current state, there was no way the four little ones were going to fall asleep anytime soon.
"Indee!"
The younger Indeedee responded and hurried out from the kitchen.
"Indee…"
"This isn't your fault. These four have always been mischievous."
Silas reached out to pat her gently, telling her not to blame herself.
He stepped into the kitchen and opened the houseet.
Because of the afternoon's event, there were still plenty of ingredients left.
"Ginger, honey and grab two fresh pears."
Before Silas even had to move, the older Indeedee britger had already taken out everything he needed.
After preparing the ingredients, he placed them into a steaming pot.
He stirred occasionally, all the while hearing the noisy commotion coming from the living room.
Especially that little lunatic Minccino—she was still shouting about "cheers."
"That should do it."
Silas turned off the heat and added two extra spoonfuls of honey.
He tasted a bit himself—it was pleasantly sweet. There was no way Minccino and the others would refuse to drink it.
[Sobering Soup (C): A basic anti-alcohol dish made from ginger, fresh pear, and honey. Sweet and gently warming in taste.
Dish Effect: Sobering Lv.1. After drinking, restores a small amount of stamina and alleviates a Pokémon's drunken state.]
He poured out four small bowls and let them cool slightly before carrying them to the living room together with the older Indeedee.
As he approached, he saw Minccino sprawled over the younger Indeedee's shoulder, still clutching an empty wine glass in her paw and waving it around, mumbling, "Min~ (Cheers~)."
Dolliv was unusually well-behaved, cradled quietly in Kangaskhan's arms without moving at all.
The classic "falls asleep the moment they're drunk" type.
Alcremie floated in midair. The bubbles on her cream body had decreased somewhat, but she still looked listless and unwell.
She hadn't drunk the wine normally—she had absorbed the alcohol vapors floating in the air which was far more intoxicating.
But the most comical one was definitely Popplio.
That little one truly had a natural talent for comedy.
Silas first called Cyclizar over to keep an eye on Popplio, then personally fed the sobering soup to each of the four little troublemakers.
After drinking it, their condition visibly improved.
Without being told, Minccino curled up in the younger Indeedee's arms and fell asleep, even beginning to snore softly.
Who would have thought that in the middle of the night they would cause such a scene? Only after settling the four little drunkards did Silas finally lie down on his bed.
It was nearly midnight. In just a few hours, dawn would break.
He slept restlessly the entire night—the sound of snoring beside his ears never stopped for even a moment.
And so the night passed.
...
"Yaaawn—"
Stretching and yawning, Silas sat up in bed, casting an unfriendly gaze toward the two little ones bouncing around on it.
"Min~"
(Silas, your expression is so scary~)
Minccino took two small steps backward and exchanged a glance with Dolliv.
The two little Pokémon hurried to the door, trying to sneak out—but the door had already been locked from the inside. No matter how hard they pushed, it wouldn't budge.
They could only turn back around, blinking innocently.
"Silas, we want to go out and play…"
"No rush." Silas stretched his neck, rolled his shoulders, and got dressed. "We haven't settled last night's account yet."
"Min? Min?"
(Settled accounts? Is Silas giving us allowance money? Yay, yay!)
Silas stepped forward and knocked Minccino firmly on the head.
"In your dreams. Stand properly. All of you—back straight."
"Doll!"
Dolliv tugged on Minccino, and the two of them obediently stood against the wall.
After giving them a look, Silas went downstairs and carried Alcremie and Popplio upstairs as well.
He lined all four little culprits up in a row.
"Now tell me—whose idea was it to steal the wine last night?"
"Min!"
(We didn't steal wine!)
"Doll…"
(It was Sister Minccino who brought us the drink. It was sweet and very tasty.)
"Lioo~"
(It was delicious. I drank the most.)
"Mama!"
(Does Silas want some too? But we already drank it all.)
"..."
Their overlapping voices buzzed in his ears, one after another, giving him a headache.
"Stop, stop, stop!"
He raised his voice to silence them and put on a stern expression.
"What you drank wasn't fruit juice—it was alcohol. It was the fruit wine I brewed last time."
"It would've been fine to take a sip or two—but you emptied an entire barrel."
"You got yourselves completely drunk and made everyone worry."
The more he spoke, the angrier he became. If he didn't teach them a lesson, this would definitely happen again.
But looking at the four tearful little faces, he simply couldn't bring himself to hit them.
"I've got it."
"You four are not allowed to go anywhere today. You're staying inside and standing in the corner for the whole day. Understood?"
"Min…"
(But we promised Sister Diancie we'd practice today…)
"Tomorrow. I'll go explain it to Diancie later."
"Alright. Go downstairs and eat."
He waved them off. The four little ones trudged downstairs, dejected and listless.
Silas followed behind them, not forgetting to scoop Morpeko out from under the blankets where it was still sleeping soundly.
It was rare for Morpeko not to wake up early screaming about being hungry. Clearly, it had eaten far too much yesterday.
After breakfast, the other Pokémon quickly ran off to do their own things.
Only Morpeko and the four punished little ones remained.
After finishing the last bite of food, Morpeko jumped down from the table eagerly.
"Morpe~!"
(The weather's so nice today! Let's hurry and go play!)
"Morpe…?"
Its short legs carried it to the door—but Minccino and the others didn't follow.
Confused, Morpeko waddled back and tugged at Minccino.
"Morpeko, you go play by yourself. The four of them made a mistake last night, so they're not allowed to go out all day."
"Morpe-ko…"
(That's such a terrifying punishment…)
Morpeko's body trembled. Afraid of being implicated, it quickly rolled out of the house in a flash.
(End of Chapter)