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Did you hear about the tower besides Mesagoza? They say if you make a wish with someone there at midnight, it will come true!
It started with an overheard conversation. One he definitely wasn’t meant to hear.
“Hey, Juliana! Did it go well?”
“Oh, hey Nemona. Did what go well?”
“Your blind date, of course!”
Arven stopped dead in his tracks, right before he turned the corner and would have been in plain sight of both girls.
“Oh, well, you know… Not that good? We didn’t really click together. He was good looking and all that, but he didn’t seem to truly love his pokemon when we battled.”
“I didn’t know he was that kind of guy. When we battled, he seemed fine.”
“Because of course you battled him first…”
The conversation then turned mundane, and Arven took this chance to walk back away, back towards where he came from.
He felt bothered, but he wasn’t sure what bothered him so much from that conversation.
Later that day, after classes, he bumped into Penny.
She nodded to him, and was about to walk away before she stopped in her tracks.
Arven stopped as well, turning to look at what made her stop so abruptly.
He saw Juliana and another guy talking. Juliana looked like she was a bit uncomfortable, while the guy seemed to be insisting on something. Arven instinctually took a few steps forwards, only for Penny to stop him by grabbing his arm.
He looked at her, confused. She shook her head side to side, in a disapproving manner.
“He’s probably asking her out to go to the school dance together. She can handle it herself. Unless you want everyone to know you stopped her from getting hit on? People will talk.”
“Dance-”
He cut himself off, remembering that it was indeed a thing and that it was soon.
“Look, if you’re so worried, I’ll just call her and it will cut this off.”
Penny took out her phone and fast dial Juliana’s number, while dragging Arven away into the bushes with her to avoid the echo that would emanate from the call.
From afar, they observed as Juliana managed to get away from the insistent guy by taking the phone call.
“Penny! Nice timing. You don’t know what I’m talking about, but thank you for calling. Did you need something?”
“Yeah, I was wondering if you could help with my homework. History’s not really my forte.”
“Yeah, no problem. Just seems strange to ask the one who isn’t from here either.”
“You think I can ask Nemona? She’s a muscle head through and through.”
“You could have asked Team Star, but hey, I’m down for a study session!”
“Kay, tomorrow after classes then. I’ll see you in the school yard, we can go to your dorm room afterwards.”
“Okay! See ya!”
He observed as Penny brushed it off with an ironclad excuse.
After Penny put away her phone, she turned back to Arven.
“You know, I thought you would have asked her out to the dance already. Would make our champion’s life that much easier with all her fans asking her out.”
“Look, I forgot all about the yearly dance. Area Zero took a toll on me.”
She raised an eyebrow, unimpressed.
“You could go ask her now. Unless you don’t want to of course. I know I’m not going.”
Could he bear seeing Juliana dance with someone else? Have fun with someone other than him?
The thought crossed through his head.
“...What if she says no?”
She scoffed in response.
“Do you really think she’ll say no to you? She lets you call her your little buddy .”
Arven made a face at that, not quite believing it.
“Juliana is very compliant? Is that the word?”
“I think you’re looking for the word ‘acquiescent’.”
“Yeah, that. She just accepts things as they are.”
Penny sighed.
“Listen, I’m just saying I don’t think she’d say no to you of all people. Anyway, I’m leaving. Have a good night or whatever.”
She left, leaving Arven with his swirling thoughts.
A few days later, Juliana called him in the afternoon, on a day off.
“Hey Arven! I just got a few Herba Mystica! Let’s make something with them!”
“Oh, sure, where are you? I’ll fly over.”
“I’m in Cascarrafa!”
“I’ll be right there!”
The second he landed at the PokeCenter, Juliana ran up to him.
“Arven! Come on, let’s go on a picnic!”
As she dashed towards the fields, Arven ran with her, pretty used to Juliana’s whims by now.
As they prepared the table and ingredients, Arven became a bit nervous, but not enough for the newly crowned champion to notice.
He wasn’t sure whether or not he should ask her to the dance, heck, he wasn’t even sure he wanted to go this year!
As the thoughts whirled through his head, he started to handle a knife, slicing clean through a tomato with practised ease. As he sliced through another one, he went too far to the left, cutting his thumb.
All it took was one sharp intake of breath in pain and Juliana was at his side, eyes clearly filled with worry. Seeing what happened, she went straight for the first aid kit in his bag.
“You don’t usually injure yourself when cooking, Arven. Is something on your mind?”
“N-not really.”
He looked away as she bandaged his small wound.
“Arven.”
The tone in her voice made him look at her. She locked eyes with him, serious.
“Are you okay? We can talk.”
“I-” he cleared his throat. “No, I’m fine.”
She clasped his hand in both of hers.
“You know we can talk about anything. Anything at all. We’re partners, right?”
Arven’s brain short circuited for a few moments.
“P-partners?”
“Hm? Well, yeah. We beat all of the Titans, remember?”
“Oh.”
A small sad smile on her face, she let go.
“How about we make this sandwich first? I’ll cut the rest of the vegetables.”
Once the sandwiches were done, Arven managed to rewire his brain into working order.
Juliana tried to start small talk, like they always did, but somehow it always lapsed back into awkward silence.
“Okay, Arven, something is wrong with you.” she stated, slight disappointment clear in her voice.
Arven sighed.
“I’m not sure what’s bothering me, Juliana.”
She frowned.
“And you don’t want to talk about that?”
“I don’t know where to start? No, that’s not it. I just don’t know what it is.”
Her expression softened.
“Well, whenever you get it, I’ll be right here, next to you.”
Days passed, and eventually, there was only a week before the school dance.
Arven still hadn’t asked Juliana. He was still going through his emotions, his jumbled thoughts.
The entire school was buzzing with excitement, as it always had during this time frame.
As he passed by 2-A, he overheard another conversation.
“Hey, did you hear? Juliana still seems to be free for the dance!”
“Wow, did she reject everyone who asked? Cold Blooded!”
“Maybe she won’t even go?”
“Maybe she got asked to help the Top champion again and can’t make it?”
Arven scoffed, and kept walking. However, a few steps away from the classroom, he bumped into someone. Putting a hand on the shoulder of the person he bumped into so that they didn’t fall, he quickly apologised.
“Arven?”
He looked down, familiar hair coming into view.
“Juliana?”
He stepped back one step to give her space.
“Just the guy I was looking for! Come on!”
She took his hand in hers, dragging him away from the room, all the way to her dorm room.
The second they made it into the room, she turned around, a determined look on her face.
“Will you go to the school dance with me?”
Arven stood by the door, stunned.
“...Shouldn’t the guy be the one asking?” was the first thing he said.
Juliana huffed.
“Let’s get rid of that gender norm. Yes or no?”
“Ah, um… Yes?”
“Why is there a question mark in your voice?” she replied, looking crestfallen despite hearing what she wanted.
“You really want to go with me?”
“Who else would I go with? A random guy I don’t know well? I could just not go. You might get asked by someone better than me.”
“No one is better than you, Juliana.”
The words left before he could even think about it.
A few blinks later, she reacted.
“Well, thank you.”
He smiled.
“Yes, I’ll go with you to the school dance.”
She jumped up, like an excited Dachsbun.
“Really?! Yes!”
She laughed, relief evident in her voice.
Arven looked at her fondly, smile still in place.
“You never even brought up the subject, so I thought I would just ask. Also, if you’re still troubled, I’m still ready to listen!”
Arven’s smile turned slightly into a grimace. Juliana smiled sympathetically.
“But I see that you still don’t know what’s wrong. Alright, no rush.”
He thought his worries would be back down to zero, but his reaction made him realize something was still wrong. He dismissed the thought for now.
On the day of the school dance, students poured into the ballroom, some together with their date, others arriving alone, waiting for their date. Juliana, all dressed up, was waiting at the entrance, a mix of excitement and nervousness for her first dance.
Arven lightly jogged into view, stopping in front of her.
“Sorry I’m late.”
She said nothing in return, too stunned by how handsome she thought he looked.
He was wearing a black suit, with his hair tied back, his front hair pulled back to the sides, his right eye now visible.
“Juliana?”
“Ah, y-yes?”
“You froze up. Do I look weird?”
“No, you look great! Trust me, you look amazing.”
A slight chuckle left his mouth.
“Thank you. You look stunning as well.”
She was wearing a dark blue dress, which reflected light and slightly sparkled. She had her hair up in a high ponytail instead of the usual side braid and had regular black high heels on.
Her makeup was light, making her look natural. You could barely see it.
“Shall we?” asked Arven, holding out his arm.
Juliana nodded, intertwining her arm with his.
They entered together. As they made their way to the dance floor, where the rest of the students were waiting for the evening to officially start, they could both hear the whispering.
“Oh so she did decide to come to the dance.”
“She chose Arven of all people?”
“I’m not surprised, I wonder who asked who out?”
Juliana did a cursory scan of the crowd and the exits, just in case something happens. At the end of it, as she was turning towards Arven to talk, she spotted Nemona, who just happened to spot her at the same time. Nemona rapidly made her way over.
“Juliana! So you did decide to come! You never told me you would come with Arven!”
“Well, you were really busy with planning this, so I didn’t want to bother you.”
“You could have just texted me, you know.”
“Which would have made you drop whatever you were doing and call me. So no, I don’t think so.”
Arven cleared his throat.
“Did I just become a ghost?”
“Sorry!” Both girls exclaimed.
Nemona looked at the time.
“Well, I have to get this evening started! Have fun, both of you!”
They both waved her goodbye as she made her way to the stage.
After the end of the opening speech, the dance started in earnest, to the joy of many.
“May I have this dance?” asked Arven.
“Of course.”
He whisked her away to the dance floor.
As they danced and talked quietly between themselves, the night went on.
They eventually went back to the buffet table.
Taking a bite of the food, Juliana hummed thoughtfully.
“Not as good as your cooking, that’s for sure.”
If Arven had a bite in his mouth, he would have choked.
“O-oh, thank you.”
He then took the first thing he saw on the table and shoved it into his mouth.
It just so happened to be a dessert, a small bite sized cake.
He also hummed thoughtfully.
“Yeah, your desserts are better than this.”
A blush flourished on her face, making her red as a tomato.
“Thanks.”
Juliana looked at the time.
The dance started at 8, and it was now 9:30.
“Hey Arven, how about we take a breather outside?”
“You read my mind. A walk helps with digestion after all.”
No one noticed them sneaking out.
Once they were out, Juliana seemed to have a destination in mind, so Arven just followed.
He only started to ask himself questions when they reached the gates leading outside the city, to Area 2.
“Er, Juliana?”
“Mmm?”
“Where are we going?”
“A little picnic spot I found the other day.”
“Okay…?”
“You have Mabostiff’s ball with you?”
“Always.”
“Then we’ll be fine! I have my entire team with me.”
They continued walking into the fields.
They made it to the tower around 15 minutes later. They could have made it faster, but Juliana was still wearing a dress and high heels, something she had forgotten about.
“I should have brought my usual shoes with me.”
“You were planning this?”
“I knew we would need a breather. So I thought this would be a good time to show you a new spot.”
“So…” Arven looked around. “Why a tower?”
“The space at the top is wide enough to have a picnic!”
“...A tower picnic?”
“Yep! That way, we can enjoy the view!”
Arven relented, an exasperated smile on his face.
They went up the stairs. Arven completely missed the sign that said “Wishing Tower Of Paldea”. In his defense, it was dark out and he was more confused about the whole thing.
As they sat down, Juliana took out a sheet from her bag so they could sit down on the cold, hard floor.
“I feel so much better here than in the ballroom, with thousands of eyes on me. Don’t you, Arven?”
“Yeah, it certainly feels better.”
“You know, I didn’t think becoming a champion would make my life harder. I thought it would be a nice treasure hunt objective, but I didn’t think about the fame that came with it. Nemona seems so relaxed, I thought it would just be slightly out of the ordinary. Wouldn’t be a reason to start staring at my every move.”
“Well, it is a feat to become a champion the first year you start school.”
“Even Nemona didn’t do that?”
“No, she did. But not as fast as you did.”
“I just… I just wanted to find my treasure, not all this..” She made a waving gesture with her hand. “Not all this fame.”
Arven scratched the back of his head.
“It will die down at one point. People will move on to other topics.”
“I suppose they will…”
“So… Did you find your treasure in the end?” He asked.
She smiled, a real, genuine one as she looked dead into his eyes.
“Yes, I did. I found it pretty recently too. Turns out I didn’t have to look that far. Oh, but if I didn’t go to Area 0, I think I wouldn’t have realized.”
“Area 0? Is it Koraidon?”
“No. But I do love him very much.”
Arven smiled.
Silence fell, but it wasn’t uncomfortable or awkward. After a minute or so, Juliana broke it.
“Have you found your treasure?”
“Not yet… I feel like it’s staring me in the face, but I can’t put my finger on it.”
“It’s not finding all the Herba Mystica?”
“That would make my treasure Mabosstif again… I can’t say my treasure is him again, that won’t fly with the school faculty.”
She hummed in agreement.
Time passed with them talking, Juliana bringing out snacks from her bag.
Around 11:30, Arven realized how much time had passed.
“We should probably go back soon…” He said, standing up, holding a hand out to her.
“Not yet.” she answered, not taking his hand.
He looked at her quizzically.
“Do you… Do you not know what this tower is, Arven?”
“Isn’t it just an abandoned tower? Like so many around Paldea?”
“No… Just stay with me for 30 more minutes and I’ll tell you.”
“Okay…?”
He sat back down.
“You can’t just tell me now?”
“I’m worried you’ll say it’s bullshit and leave before it’s time.”
“Try me. I doubt I’ll think it’s bullshit when it’s from your mouth. If I thought it was bullshit, so would you.”
Juliana stayed quiet for a few seconds, weighing her options.
“This tower is called the wishing tower. If we both make a wish together, it will come true…”
“I see. And you believe in this?”
“Don’t you? I just think it’s nice to have some assurance, and besides, I’m here to hear a certain thing from you. With this wish, I’ll know whether or not it will be true, depending on how you respond…”
“What wish do you have that you want to wish with me?”
“Can you wait right before midnight?”
He raised an eyebrow, but nodded.
They sat in silence.
As the clock ticked down, so did his patience.
At 11:55, he caved.
But before he could say anything, Juliana took his hand in hers.
His mind flashed to when he had injured himself and she had done the same motion.
“Arven. Will you stay with me forever?”
“...Huh?”
He wasn’t expecting this.
“You asked what my treasure was. It’s you. You’re my treasure.”
His entire face became red. His free hand went up to his mouth, muffling his next words.
“Can a person be a treasure?”
“You and your questions.” she answered with a fond tone in her voice. “Yes, and you’re mine. I want to be with you forever.”
“I…What?”
“Do I need to be clearer? I want to date you. I love you, Arven.”
As the words registered in his brain, his mind shut down for a few moments.
How had he never noticed? The tender looks, the concern when he had injured himself, and his own worries. It all clicked in his mind at once, the puzzle pieces finally fitting together.
He was bothered because he loved her. He didn’t want other people to be buzzing around her like bees to honey.
He wanted to protect her. He wanted her to be his, he just never realized until now.
He looked down at her. She was so short, so strong yet so fragile. So precious.
“Yes.”
Her eyes widened.
“You will?”
“Yes, I will date you, Juliana. I love you too.”
Her most genuine smile blossomed on her face. She let go of his hand and hugged him, her face in his chest, right at his sternum.
Smiling, he pushed her back a little so he could see her face. She had a few tears in her eyes. He wiped them away, a tender smile on his face.
“Now you have to promise to stay with me." She said.
“I will. But you didn’t need this place, I would have stayed with you either way.”
“Yeah, but now it’s an unbreakable promise. It’s our wish.”
“Yeah.”
As the clock struck midnight, Arven leaned down and kissed her.
“You’re my treasure.”