With less than a hundred days until the Life Cherry Blossom Festival on January 8th, both the Miyazaki sisters and the shrine maidens were in a hurry. Even Xia Huanao and Mu Zhishui, who were semi-insiders, felt the urgency.
Because everyone was collectively anxious, the Pokémon Xia Huanao had recruited were essentially rushed into training, and various problems immediately surfaced.
First, let's talk about Lingdang Xiang and Fengling Ling. These two were easily persuaded by Xia Huanao to come along. However, Xia Huanao had enticed them with his bell, and thus failed to realize that neither of them, despite their names, could ring. It was quite a joke that the two Pokémon with "bell" in their names refused to make any sound.
"No wonder these two Pokémon were so easily swayed. They must really love bells."
Mu Zhishui and the shrine maidens hadn't expected Fengling Ling and Lingdang Xiang to have such an issue. Xia Huanao, with a wry smile, approached them. "You two, what happened before? Why can't you ring?"
Xia Huanao skillfully stroked their bells, lowering their guard and resistance, which finally prompted them to share their story.
Fengling Ling and Lingdang Xiang, chattering away, with Rotom translating, revealed what had happened over a long period.
The two little ones had no prior connection. They met at a music concert a few years ago. Since neither of them had a trainer, they decided to travel together.
While traveling near Mount Sakura Blaze, they encountered a Loudred. One night, as the two were making music, the Loudred let out a deafeningly loud and unpleasant bell sound. Worse still, immediately after the Loudred's outburst, Mount Sakura Blaze erupted. Fortunately, the eruption wasn't severe, and the two managed to escape. However, the incident left them with deep psychological scars, and ever since, they had been unable to produce any bell sounds.
Hearing that the two little Pokémon had narrowly escaped a volcanic eruption, the shrine maidens looked at them with concern. Seeing their teary eyes as they recounted the past, Xia Huanao quickly picked up one of them. "Sakura, could I borrow your Kagura Suzune?"
Miyazaki Sakura handed him the Kagura Suzune, but Xia Huanao hesitated. "Never mind, I'm terrible with bells. I can't even shake a rattle properly, so I shouldn't mess with the Kagura Suzune. It would be better to trouble you, Miss Sakura."
With that, Xia Huanao handed Fengling Ling and Lingdang Xiang to Miyazaki Sakura, who transformed from a shrine maiden into a caregiver holding little bells.
Watching the Miyazaki sisters gently soothe the injured Pokémon, Xia Huanao turned to address other issues.
The second Pokémon Xia Huanao brought was a Kricketune. After various experiments, it was confirmed that the Kricketune had two problems. One was its gluttony; it was always looking for fruit to munch on. If Cherubi wasn't around, the Kricketune would eye a Cherrim, clearly driven by its appetite.
Xia Huanao had genuinely thought it had mellowed, but the Kricketune turned out to be a bully. It would wait until Cherrim was alone to try and take a bite. If it waited until Cherrim evolved, wouldn't it be terrified?
The other problem was the Kricketune's extreme shyness. If only Xia Huanao was present, the Kricketune could perform stably, its melodies soothing and relaxing. But the moment another person appeared, even just one, its string instruments would change tune, sounding like a screeching halt mixed with a cat scratching a blackboard, an agonizing, inescapable cacophony.
Xia Huanao was at a loss for a solution. He hadn't expected that giving it a single fruit would make the Kricketune so devoted to him. However, in Xia Huanao's opinion, its gluttony wasn't a major issue. This Kricketune ate frequently, but its portions were small; a single Oran Berry could last over half an hour. It would be simple to ensure it didn't cause trouble during the Kagura dance. As for the second problem, Xia Huanao resigned himself to it. "Just ring, I can endure it. With more practice, I'll get used to it."
Although Xia Huanao told the Kricketune to practice, he had no intention of listening. He decided to wear earplugs during its practice sessions and praise its progress every time. What a brilliant strategy!
Xia Huanao's plan was clever, but the others disagreed. They couldn't block their ears. If the shrine maidens did so, they wouldn't be able to hear the Kagura dance at all. Having no other choice, Xia Huanao decided to blindfold the Kricketune. It turned out that as long as the Kricketune couldn't see people, it wouldn't falter, even knowing that others were present.
Given this, they decided to take a shot in the dark. If all else failed, they could erect an opaque, one-way mirror during the Kagura dance.
The third problem was with the Yamask. This hyperactive little guy wanted to poke at everything it saw. Its previous encounter with a Rhydon was just the beginning. Upon arriving at the shrine, the Yamask started poking the shrine maidens' skirts with its bone club, only to be dealt with by their Pokémon, after which it dared not poke girls anymore.
However, one time, the Yamask tried poking the wooden bucket by the well and almost fell in. Fortunately, Froakie reacted in time and blocked it from falling into the well.
But these weren't the main issues. Its problem was a lack of control over its movements. The overly energetic Yamask struck the drums with full force every time. A brand-new drum would be rendered useless after just a few practice sessions, often with a resounding "thump" followed by a tear. But if you asked the Yamask to play with less force, its drumbeats would become unrecognizable, making it impossible to tell what it was playing.
Xia Huanao had plenty of experience with such matters, having trained Pokémon before. In school, there were typically two solutions to such problems. One was to use thicker drums that could withstand more impact. The other was to train the Yamask to adapt its strength. Xia Huanao believed he could resolve this in a few days.
The last issue was with the Bronzong. This wasn't because the Bronzong was not evolved; it had already evolved. As for how it evolved, it happened when the Yamask was poking the wooden bucket by the well and almost fell in. Xia Huanao hastily instructed Froakie to save it.
Froakie used Dark Pulse to seal the well opening, accidentally blasting the Yamask, which was leaning over the well, away. The Yamask flew directly towards a Cherrim that had followed the Kricketune, which was now alone. The Cherrim was headbutted by the Yamask and sent flying. The Kricketune also tripped and fell.
The flying Cherrim landed directly on the face of a balled-up Yamask sunning itself. The Yamask, already having a short temper, was so enraged by being stomped on that it actually evolved.
Xia Huanao commented at the time, "This is way more ridiculous than Little Red's, ah no, James's evolution-inducing kick!"
Initially, after evolving, the Bronzong had found its purpose, and its bell-like sounds could be used at the beginning and end of the Kagura. However, after the first chime, the Bronzong entered a period of idleness. Everything was going smoothly, but halfway through the Kagura dance, everyone heard the Bronzong's "boing" sound again.
Everyone looked at the Bronzong, intending to tell it to quiet down and not disrupt things. But when they looked, Xia Huanao was gone, replaced by the Bronzong standing on the ground. It took them a long time to search and finally discover that Xia Huanao had been completely covered by the Bronzong.
One would think a Bronzong isn't that large, but Xia Huanao was sitting on the ground with his knees hugged to his chest, looking very small and cute, and was easily engulfed.
It took the group a considerable effort to rescue Xia Huanao from beneath the Bronzong. When Xia Huanao saw the light of day again, his head was ringing.
After a brief recovery, Xia Huanao resumed watching their practice. However, the Bronzong was persistent. As soon as its initial chime ended, it would try its best to perform a surprise "falling from the sky" attack on Xia Huanao.
But Xia Huanao was not to be outdone. He quickly learned to counter the Bronzong's strategy by placing a Shedinja on his head. "If you dare to ring, I'll attack you from inside!"
Although Xia Huanao managed to evade, in the absence of the primary victim, the Bronzong would randomly select a target and treat them as the second victim, delivering a "justice from the sky" attack.
For this problem, Xia Huanao's solution was to hang it up. If the Bronzong was suspended, no matter how capable it was, it couldn't perform a "heavenly descent" attack. Furthermore, Xia Huanao decided to have the Yamask use the Bronzong to practice controlling its strength. This was also a good idea, as a Bronzong was much more durable than a broken drum and wouldn't be easily damaged.
With all training arrangements made, it was nearly evening. Xia Huanao and Mu Zhishui decided to head back, as Xia Huanao casually residing at the shrine wasn't ideal.
A week passed in the blink of an eye. One day, Xia Huanao arrived at the shrine. After watching the Miyazaki sisters' Kagura preview, he told them, "I've been watching for quite a while. It's time for me to leave. It's a shame I didn't get to see your autumn cherry blossoms, but I'll be back for the Life Cherry Blossom Festival in January."
"Okay, we'll be waiting for you to come back and see the festival."