Chapter Text
“Life's too short
To worry about things that we got wrong
So hug all your friends and let them know
You're not letting go”
- hug all ur friends by Cavetown
Nemona loved life! Really, she did!
Almost as much as she loved battles! And friends! And everything, really!!!
She knew sometimes people could look at her weird when she says stuff like that, but what was she supposed to do about it, not tell the truth? When she looked out at the world around her, all she could see were things that she loved, and she felt it would be selfish of her not to share that love with everyone that she could.
For her whole life, Nemona had always had a joie de vivre that was so far unrivaled, though a few had gotten close. Her parents had tried to get her to calm down some, given that high society isn’t generally a place for adventurous, outgoing, battle-obsessed kids, but all they succeeded in doing was ensuring that Nemona would not be visiting them any time soon. She loved them dearly, but if she had to hear them nag her about how “Young ladies do not run.” or “Battling is unbecoming of a future heir such as yourself.” one more time, she might explode. And yet, Nemona still loved them, just as she loved most everything!
As a matter of fact, the things Nemona didn’t love could be counted on one hand, and most of those things were the Big Bad’s of the world that no one liked.
Death, of course, was at the top of that list. She understood that death was natural, and necessary, for life to continue on as it was, but that didn’t mean she had to like it.
Death was followed closely by mass destruction and suffering in general, the sort of mindless carnage caused by no one in particular that could affect millions at once.
And, last but certainly not least, Nemona hated when someone hurt her friends.
So, you can only imagine how much she had despised everything that went down in Area Zero, not that she would ever tell anyone. Enough people had been hurt worse than her that day.
Now, despite how gung ho Nemona was about battles, she actually hated when people fought, so she wasn’t very likely to try and punch someone who hurt her friends, or anything like that. If it ever really came down to it, Nemona absolutely would fight for her friends, but she preferred for that to be a last resort for her.
She would, however, gladly destroy that person in battle right before rushing off to cheer up her friends with that same technique. Sue her, she knew how to do one thing better than 99% of the population, and it usually worked out in her favor.
Nemona didn’t like to scare people, or have an unfair advantage in battle, but was more than willing to do so for the sake of her friends.
When someone made a negative comment about Penny’s antisocial tendencies, or her past with Team Star? Pawmot and Nemona would beat them in one move and then let Penny win immediately after, building the hacker’s self esteem back up bit by bit.
When people would whisper behind Arven’s back about how he must be cursed, losing his mother at such a young age only to then lose his father too, acting as though any of it was his fault? Lycanroc took care of them just as quietly, and Nemona would run to Arven afterward to give him a challenge, something to take his mind off of it.
And Juliana,,,, well, Nemona had to be honest, she hadn’t done much to help Juliana so far. If anything, Juliana had been the one helping Nemona out the most.
She was there every time she needed a boost, every time Nemona was scared going all out would be too much, every time she felt held back by the expectations her peers put on her. No matter what Nemona was going through, Juliana managed to be there for her when she needed her. Sometimes Nemona wondered if Juliana had some sort of “Friend Is Sad” sensor that let her know exactly when to show up, but Penny said that didn’t exist, so she guessed Juliana just had really good intuition.
But Nemona had yet to really help Juliana in any sort of substantial way.
Sure, she went down to Area Zero with their ragtag crew, but her main motivation for that was more for fun and exciting Pokémon battles, and less to actually help. Hell, when they got to the end of that nightmare, Nemona still hadn’t been able to help anyone. She wasn’t able to fight off the Paradise Protection Program, she wasn’t the one who shut down the time machine, and while she may have been the one to suggest their impromptu road-trip on the way home to cheer everyone up, it wouldn’t have worked if it weren’t for Penny and Juliana both supporting her and going along with the plan, reluctantly dragging Arven along with them.
Nemona couldn’t actually think of a single time where Juliana had truly needed her help, or any help, for that matter. Most people hesitated before so much as glancing at Juliana in a negative way, because of the girl’s growing reputation and strength.
Juliana seemed to have a sort of gravity to her, Nemona had noticed, something that drew people in, pulled them into her orbit, until it seemed almost all of Paldea was caught in it.
She saw it in the way Penny watched Juliana with an almost single minded devotion, and in the way that Arven found her after every adventure to patch her up and hold her close.
In fact, Nemona couldn’t think of a single person who had ever had a bad thing to say about Juliana, and that included Grusha, someone who Nemona had always been so sure was completely incapable of feeling anything other than a general distaste towards the world at large. She knew this because all of the gym leaders, elite four, and the top champion were in a group chat together, and if Nemona was persistent enough, Hassel would let her use his phone to schedule battles with them. She didn’t snoop in their group chat too much, but what could she say? They always had the most fun conversations!
All this to say, Nemona knew she couldn’t help Juliana in quite the same way as she helped Arven and Penny, but honestly, that didn’t really matter to her much! Sure, she worried sometimes that Juliana was just hiding the fact that she needed help, and one day she would explode with the pressure of it all, but Nemona knew that trying to push her to accept help she didn't want would be a recipe for disaster. It would be better to remain by her side no matter what, so Juliana always knew she could count on Nemona if she needed her.
Her rival, a title she had never been able to truly give to someone before Juliana, had helped Nemona in a way she had been starting to fear no one could, and for that, Nemona would do anything, anything to help her just as much, if not more.