February 12th.
This was a day out of the ordinary.
Silas finished all of his work early that morning, deliberately freeing up his schedule.
At this moment, he was standing beside the donkey shed, asking once more.
"Are you three really not coming?"
The three Mudbray brothers gathered around him. Their legs and bodies were still caked with mud—they had just crawled out of the mud pool.
"Mud—Mud!" (Silas, you guys go ahead. We'll stay and watch over the ranch.)
One of the Mudbray lazily flopped down, exposing its belly.
"All right!" Silas didn't force them. Mudbray weren't the type to enjoy crowds anyway—they were only interested in mud.
"I'll prepare your afternoon snacks and dinner in advance and put everything in the fridge. When you're hungry, just eat directly—no need to wait for us to come back."
At the mention of food, the Mudbray immediately perked up, their tails wagging with a whooshing sound.
"Mud~ Mud~"
Having good food waiting—nothing could be better than that.
"Okay, okay, so you want mud cake, grass dumplings, and a fruit platter, right?"
Smiling, Silas agreed to all of their requests one by one.
Thinking about the upcoming feast, saliva practically dripped from the corners of the Mudbrays' mouths—they wished they could eat it right away.
Leaving them for the moment, Silas went to prepare their dinner in advance.
But before that, he still needed to make lunch.
Once everyone sat down and finished eating, they would head to Shalour City to wait—there would definitely be a lot of people at the premiere.
While eating, Silas explained the plan to the other Pokémon.
Upon hearing it, Minccino let out a cheer, visibly thrilled.
He introduced it to Smoliv and Flabébé as well—after all, it was a movie starring Gardevoir and Diantha, and they absolutely had to go support it.
Off to the side, Kangaskhan looked a bit sour, a trace of jealousy lingering about her.
She pursed her lips—she didn't really want to watch it.
She was only going along to protect Silas's safety, that was all.
The only one truly uninterested was Cyclizar. As long as it could be with Silas, it was already perfectly satisfied.
Taking advantage of Minccino and the others talking excitedly, its little claws started sneaking food out of their bowls.
Before long, its cheeks were puffed out, round as two inflated balloons.
Gulping down some water from a cup, it finally swallowed all the food crammed into its mouth.
"What about you three? Do you also want to come along too?"
Casually patting Cyclizar as a warning glance, Silas turned to ask the Noibat trio.
In broad daylight, the sleepy Noibat trio barely managed to perk themselves up. But when they heard it was an outing, their eyes instantly lit up, and they answered softly.
"Noi~!"
"Don't worry. Bringing you along just means buying more ticket. We'll just head out a bit earlier."
Silas gently stroked them, knowing that the considerate trio didn't want to cause him trouble.
"Noi~ bat~" (Then we want to go.)
"Except for the Mudbray brothers, everyone's coming along," Silas counted them up. "We'll leave the ranch to you, Mudbrays."
"Mud~ Mud~"
With fruit juice still clinging to the corner of its mouth, the eldest Mudbray pounded its chest confidently, signaling that everything was under control—it would smash any strangers that showed up.
The second Mudbray followed up, declaring it would trap enemies with sandstorms, while the third said it would bury them into cracks in the ground.
After lunch, Minccino were still chattering excitedly, talking nonstop about the movie they were about to see, each one brimming with anticipation.
Meanwhile, Silas finished preparing the Mudbrays' dinner and told them exactly where everything was stored—they could take it out and eat whenever they got hungry.
The Mudbrays said they remembered, forcibly suppressing their greedy urges.
At that moment, Minccino ran over, tugging at Silas and urging him to hurry—if they went any later, there might not be a movie to watch.
Silas smiled and patted it reassuringly. "No rush, no rush. I've left plenty of time."
Scooping Minccino into his arms, Silas gave the three Mudbray one last reminder before mounting Cyclizar and heading toward Shalour City.
Upon arriving in the city center, they quickly noticed something different.
Minccino excitedly tugged at his hair with its tiny hands, signaling him to look to the side.
Following where Minccino pointed, Silas saw a massive poster hanging on a tall building. The main figures on it were Diantha and Gardevoir, promoting the very movie they were about to watch.
Silas didn't go straight to the theater. Instead, he first headed to the Shalour Gym.
From afar, he could see someone waiting at the entrance. When the other party spotted Silas, she ran over enthusiastically.
"Big Brother Silas, you're here!"
"Mm!" Dismounting from Cyclizar, Silas rubbed Korrina's head with a smile. "I didn't come too late, did I?"
"No, no! I just finished lunch myself."
At Korrina's invitation, Silas entered the Shalour Gym and saw Riolu in the middle of training.
The little guy was methodical and serious, punching a wooden post with its small fists, every movement packed with power.
After more than a week apart, Riolu's strength had clearly improved.
"Heehee! That's all thanks to the food you made last time, Big Brother. That's why Riolu improved so quickly."
Korrina's face was full of admiration—Silas was the strongest trainer she had ever met, second only to her grandfather.
"This is all thanks to you and Riolu. I just played a supporting role."
After saying that, Silas shifted the topic.
"Korrina, how are you two getting along?"
"Serena and I write to each other all the time! We're already best friends!"
Korrina happily shared her joy—she had made a wonderful new friend.
"That's good. Make sure you get along well. When there's a chance, I can bring Serena to visit you."
Korrina's eyes sparkled with excitement. "Really?"
"Of course."
After chatting for a while and paying a visit to Gym Leader Gurkinn, they finally headed for the cinema.
It was already close to the premiere time, and a long line had formed in front of the theater—every single one of them was a Diantha fan.
With all the recent promotion, she had accumulated quite a bit of popularity. Now it all depended on whether this wave could truly convert into lasting success.
Entering the theater, Silas released all the Pokémon he was carrying, except for Kangaskhan.
Smoliv and the five Flabébé shared one seat, the three Noibat took another, and Minccino curled up in his arms, its mouth never stopping as Silas continuously fed it popcorn.
"Is it good?" Silas asked with a smile, gently pinching Minccino.
"Min~ Min~" (Fragrant and sweet, super delicious.)
"If there's a chance, I'll fry some for you myself next time."
Minccino nodded vigorously, its attention quickly drawn to the large screen as it lit up.
The movie officially began. The screening hall rapidly fell silent as both humans and Pokémon focused intently on the film.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the three Mudbray had played themselves tired and ran to the river to rinse off.
They all headed back to the ranch house—not because they didn't want to keep playing, but because they were hungry, their stomachs growling nonstop.
The eldest Mudbray opened the fridge and took out the food inside.
In just a few bites, the three of them devoured everything, then sprawled out on the grass, bellies bulging.
Before long, the three Mudbray were hungry again.
But there was no food left. They had no choice but to think of another way to fill their stomachs.
Light bulbs practically popped up beside the eldest Mudbray's head—it had an idea.
Let's go all out and use Rototiller on the ranch, make the pasture grass grow faster!
And so, the three Mudbray ate more and more, and the hungrier they became, the more they ate.
The massive energy within their bodies was released, pure white light flashing over them—that was the light of evolution.
(End of Chapter)