Chapter Text
There’s something endearing about Kieran. Juliana can’t help herself from smiling as he ducks behind his sister, doing everything but clinging onto her sleeve. She’s less endearing, her eyebrows furrowed and her eyes cold. Still, this is an exchange trip, and they’re supposed to be making friends, so Juliana smiles at Carmine regardless.
She won’t say she’s not relieved when Carmine refuses to partner up with her for the project, though. Kieran is a much more willing participant, even if he’s so shy that he won’t look at the camera when she takes their picture. Juliana sends the photo into her group chat with her Paldean friends – proof of life, if nothing else. Penny gives her a thumbs up react, while the other two argue over Juliana’s new friend.
She can barely even describe him as a friend. Though he seems like a sweet guy, Juliana can hardly get two words out of him. She tries to ask about Kitakami, about Carmine, about the Blueberry Academy. Kieran is keen to talk about Ogrepon and the loyal three, but not much else. She manages to get out some information about him, though. He lives here with his grandparents during the holidays, and boards in the academy during term time. His birthday is in January, which makes him about six months younger than Juliana.
They eat lunch together at the top of the hill, looking over Mossui town below them. He eats in silence, and Juliana follows his lead, not sure whether she should keep pressing him. With friends like Nemona and Arven, she’s never really needed to lead a conversation before. She thinks of herself as shy, mostly because of the language barriers between herself and her friends, though she’s getting there. She speaks to Kieran in his second language, though as he speaks her language at school, they can get on okay.
He pulls on his hair, willing the side sections to cover his ears. Juliana watches him out of the corner of her eye. His lunch is finished, chopsticks attached to the top of his box. Her sandwich looks sad in comparison to his bento.
“What sort of things do you study at your school?” She asks. Safe territory. Neutral. Factual answers only, since he seems to be too shy to share his opinions.
“We have… a terrarium. S-so we have a lot of field classes. We learn about Pokémon and their environments.” Juliana nods, trying to picture a terrarium. She can only imagine the small terrariums her mother keeps on the windowsill.
“We don’t have that, just normal indoor classes. It sounds cool!”
“We have normal classes as well. Math, History, Art…”
“I didn’t really end up ever going to classes, though,” Juliana admits. “They have a very open curriculum at Uva Academy, so I just… wandered around for the most part.”
“Like… outside the school?” Kieran asks.
“Yeah. All around Paldea actually. Doing gyms, meeting Titan Pokémon – don’t ask, I still don’t understand what they are. I challenged the Pokémon League too.”
“We have a league in Blueberry Academy too,” he tells her. It’s strange to hear someone talk about it so calmly – Nemona was always so excited about Paldea’s league. “I-it’s run by students though, so it’s not… official. One day I’d like to get into their ranks, or at least… give it a go. I-I’m not strong enough for battling at the moment.”
“You’ll get there,” Juliana encourages. “Once your Sentret and Yanma evolve, they’ll be great! And there’s some other really cool Pokémon here in Kitakami too. I’ll definitely be catching a few before I go back home.” He manages a smile at that, but he still can’t look at her.
“I’d like to maybe do the league challenge in Unova or Johto one day,” he says, almost wistfully. “I-I could never decide which one. But as I said, I’m not strong enough.”
“You can get stronger as you go,” she reminds him. “A lot of gym leaders adjust their strength according to who is challenging them, and some leagues have a set path that you can take, with easier gym leaders at the start. You’d probably enjoy it!”
“Maybe. One day.”
She leaves it at that, not wanting to push too hard. Kieran seems like a delicate boy, and while she too is shy, this is a whole other problem. She puts her rubbish into her backpack, noticing Kieran do the same. They stand at the same time, and Juliana pulls up the map on her phone. It’s a bit of a walk to the next place they have to look at, but since it’s summer the sun will be up until well into the evening, and they have plenty of time before the festival that night.
She follows Kieran back to his house, a little disappointed when she finds Carmine glaring at her from outside. Juliana tries to smile, which catches Carmine off guard, her expression stuttering for a few seconds.
“The host families always prepare outfits for the exchange students,” Kieran explains. “Granny has made one for you.”
“You’ll not have a mask, though,” Carmine is quick to tell her. “We only have two.”
There seems to be a whole fuss about masks that Juliana can’t quite follow between Carmine talking quickly to her and switching languages to speak with Kieran. She’s probably saying something mean, and Juliana can hear her name being used in between phrases she doesn’t recognise.
Before she can even try to comprehend what’s happened, Juliana finds herself following the siblings up the path towards Kitakami Hall. As they approach, the air turns sweet with sugar, and the sound of music and revelry floats down to them. They didn’t have festivals like this in Galar, nor did she spot anything of the sort in Paldea. The whole atmosphere feels so homely to her, even though she doesn’t fully understand what’s going on.
They pick out candy apples, locally grown fruit covered in hardened melted sugar. Juliana is more familiar with these, but more from Halloween back at home than anything to do with the festival. Carmine leads them further into the festival, and soon Juliana finds herself signing up for Ogre Oustin’, some sort of game that she doesn’t quite understand the rules to.
The game is fun, she supposes, but it leaves her a little out of breath. Kieran seems to enjoy it though, and that’s what really matters. He’s come out of his shell a little more, and chats to her almost non-stop as they visit the shrine. Everything he says seems to contradict Carmine, which makes Juliana’s head hurt. He explains the customs further to her, though it still doesn’t make complete sense to her. Juliana nods politely, trying to hold all the information about the ogre and the Loyal Three and the Festival of Masks in her mind.
Eventually, Kieran goes back for another round of Ogre Oustin, and Juliana can wander the festival by herself. From here she can see back down to Mossui Town, and if she squints she can see the lights on the hill where she ate lunch with Kieran earlier. She’s only been here for a few days, barely enough time to get to know the area or the people, but so far, Juliana finds herself falling in love with Kitakami. Though this trip will be short lived, she finds herself planning trips back next summer, inviting her Paldean friends to come along.
Perhaps it’s silly to be thinking so far ahead. There are more tasks to complete on their checklists before they return home. Juliana doesn’t know any of the other kids selected to go on the trip, and makes a mental note to get to know them a bit better before they return. She’s already been planning to start taking classes again when she gets back – with a complete Pokédex and a League title under her belt, it might be interesting to take some of the classes that she ignored last term.
Someone bumps her, jostling her from her thoughts. They’re about half her height, clutching what looks like a blanket over their head as they scurry towards the mountains. Juliana finds herself following them before she can think to do otherwise. She doesn’t want to head into the mountains, certainly not alone, and certainly not at night. But she doesn’t want this child to be heading off alone either.
Carmine is by her side before long, and the two follow the child up the steps and away from the festival. The mask they wore is heavy in Juliana’s hands, and if Carmine’s mask is anything like this, she’s glad they didn’t have enough to share. By the time they get to the top of the stairs, the child has disappeared. Carmine’s brow furrows once again. She runs a finger along the edge of the mask.
“Who was that?” She asks.
“Not sure. I thought it was some kid, so I followed. I didn’t want them getting lost.”
“That’s what I thought too, but… what kind of kid just disappears like that?” Carmine sighs, looking down at the mask in Juliana’s hands before surveying the area. “You don’t think…”
“I don’t want to put words in your mouth,” Juliana tells her honestly. Carmine nods with something akin to respect.
“They dropped a mask, so could it have been the ogre? The story was true?!”
“I-“
“We should go back,” Carmine says quickly, turning on her heel and heading in the direction of the festival. Juliana almost trips in her hurry to follow. “Do not tell Kiki about this.”
“Why?”
“He cares too much about the ogre. I don’t want him going to look for it, especially not at night.”
“What if it wasn’t the ogre?”
“Juliana, you saw what I saw. That was the ogre. She’s been written out of the stories, but I’ve seen pictures in grandpa’s old books. The mask is exactly the same – so hide it before Kiki sees!”
She just about manages to stuff the mask into her bag before they reach the bottom of the steps, where Kieran waits for them. He’s bouncing on his toes, pulling on the sides of his hair again.
“I nearly beat your high score!” He proudly declares, before his face drops. “What were you two doing up there? You know we’re not allowed to go into the mountains at night. It’s dangerous.”
“Nothing,” Carmine says, though Juliana can tell there’s no way Kieran will believe her. “Nothing that would interest you anyway.” Juliana resists rolling her eyes – as if that would make him less interested in what they saw.
“Fine,” Kieran says. “I’ll head back to the festival.”
He sounds almost cold, not like the Kieran that Juliana has come to know over the past few days. She shares a look with Carmine, who for the first time seems to be displaying an emotion other than vague disgust – concern.
“Let’s keep this our secret,” she says, voice quiet. “Kiki loves the ogre, so I don’t want him feeling like he missed out, and I don’t want him chasing after it at this time of night.”
“Okay,” Juliana agrees, though she doesn’t like this one bit. Kieran seems to be a vulnerable boy, and despite the fact that they’re basically the same age, Juliana can sense that he’s far less mature than she is. Perhaps this is the product of living in such a small town, or maybe it’s just what he’s like. Carmine certainly seems far more sure of herself than Kieran ever could.
They return to the festival, and Carmine immediately heads for the Ogre Oustin again, this time with slight trepidation as she hands over the fee. Juliana instead heads to find Kieran, spotting him standing alone, looking off into the distance.
“Everything okay?” She asks, quietly, so as not to make him jump. He flinches regardless, and gives her a tight smile.
“Fine,” he says, though she’s not convinced. “All done with the festival?”
“I think so.”
“I’ll walk you back to the community centre.”
“Oh, you don’t have to. If you want to stay longer, you-“
“I’ve had enough.”
There’s an air of formality in his words, a determination that he hasn’t shown before. He doesn’t want to be here, and he doesn’t want her to be here either. Or more accurately, he doesn’t want her to be with Carmine. Either way, Juliana nods. She has done everything she wanted to do, she supposes, so she may as well head back with Kieran.
“Did you enjoy yourself? We have these festivals every summer.”
“It was great! Maybe I’ll come back another year. I could definitely eat more candy apples.”
“Yeah?” Kieran asks, and when Juliana turns her head, she can see that his eyes have lit up once again. “If you do come back, you’ll have to come and say hi.”
“Of course! I would hardly come back all this way and ignore you.”
“Right. I’m sure you’d rather hang out with Carmine though.”
“Not really,” Juliana tells him honestly. She thought this would cheer Kieran up, but he seems more annoyed. “I’ve enjoyed hanging out with you.”
He makes some non-committal hum. Juliana wrings her fingers together. Kitakami’s countryside is quiet – too quiet – and she feels unbelievably awkward as they finish their descent into Mossui Town. It’s quiet too, with most of the residents still at the festival. They pause outside the community centre, bathed in the glow of the fluorescent lights within.
“Um… I’ll see you tomorrow?” Kieran asks, no longer meeting her eyes. He doesn’t look as angry as he did at the hall. Now he just looks sad. Juliana swallows hard, and considers just telling him what she saw – or at least thinks she saw. But Carmine’s words ring in her mind – it is true that Kieran will likely go after the ogre, and not even consider waiting until the morning.
“We’ve got one more sign to see! According to the map it’s quite far away, though…”
“Paradise Barrens,” he agrees quietly. “I-I’ll see you in the morning, then.”
“Good night!” Juliana says, waiting until he nods and turns away before heading into the community centre. She pauses as the doors slide open to welcome her, stealing another glance at Kieran as he disappears from sight. He seems to have regressed into the shy boy she met yesterday, not the Kieran that she got to know today who was excited about showing her around Kitakami. She pulls her hair from its ponytail in frustration, heading straight for bed.
Juliana shows Ms Briar the photo of the final signboard, and she ticks Juliana and Kieran off on her list. The photo is terrible, and even Ms Briar gives it an odd look. She hasn’t seen Kieran since then – probably off training or catching new Pokémon. Somehow, this whole situation, which seems to be getting more and more out of hand, has given him a surge of determination to get stronger.
“Your first two photos really showed your burgeoning friendship,” Ms Briar comments sadly. “What’s wrong here?”
“Kieran wasn’t feeling well,” Juliana excuses, knowing that it was nothing of the sort. “He headed home right after we took the photo.”
“Poor thing. I hope he feels better soon.” Ms Briar shakes her head, then motions for Juliana to put her phone away. “Well, you’re the first pair to complete orienteering, and that was the main plan for this trip. I suppose since you are an experienced trainer you can have a go at catching some Pokémon and do some exploring of your own. Just make sure you’re back at the community centre by night, okay?”
“Yes, Ms Briar. Thanks.”
“And if you see the others while you’re out and about, make sure to point them in the right direction, won’t you?”
Juliana nods, and Ms Briar goes back to her book. She leaves the community centre with a fresh sense of enthusiasm, but finds herself not sure where to direct it. She considers going to check on Kieran, but decides it’s probably best to leave him alone for now and check in again tomorrow. Maybe talking to Carmine will put her mind at ease, but she’s probably off doing orienteering too, and besides, talking to Carmine is what got her into this mess in the first place.
Instead she heads down to the river, and sets up for a picnic with her Pokémon. Meowscarada seems to enjoy the summer sun, stretching out on the grass. The others just eat the lunch she gives them as normal, their usual quiet selves. How she ended up with a team of six strong but shy Pokémon, Juliana will never know. Perhaps it is because she too is shy, and she’s just managed to find Pokémon that are similar to her.
With her picnic packed up, she crosses the river, noticing a bamboo forest on the far bank. She catches a few Pokémon, smugly listening to the sound of them registering in her Pokédex. Carmine’s favourite Pokémon Sinistcha seems to be here, and she makes sure to catch one – she won’t see one anywhere else.
A little further upstream she spots a familiar shock of dark hair. Kieran must hear her coming, as he whips around. For a second, Juliana contemplates pretending that she didn’t see him. But she did, and so she waves. It takes him a moment to respond. His Yanma seems to have evolved, a Yanmega now buzzing around his head. He holds his hand up in greeting, then turns back as quickly as he turned in the first place. Juliana decides to head back downstream.
The Crystal Pool is probably the most beautiful thing Juliana has ever seen. More beautiful than any sight she’s seen in Paldea, at least off the top of her head. Carmine talks the whole trek there and the whole trek back, which is a welcome change from how she was on the first day they arrived in Kitakami. She finished her orienteering yesterday afternoon, and fills in Juliana on all the gossip with her partner.
“He was telling me all about your little Treasure Hunt,” she says. “Apparently you can only graduate if you find your treasure. Sounds weird to me.”
“It’s a subjective thing,” Juliana tells her. “I mean, obviously they have a way to see if you’ve actually been doing anything. But you have to write up a proposal of what you want to do, and then at the end you have to write up an essay of what you did. This can take years too – there’s some students that have been studying for twenty years, sometimes more.”
“Sounds insane.”
“It’s a little odd. I lived in Galar until last year, and going to school there is a lot more… normal.”
“Blueberry Academy is more normal too. We have final exams after four years. Mine will be this year, when we go back to school in September. Then I’m free to do whatever I want. Assuming I pass, that is.”
“Any idea what you’re going to do after?”
“Not sure,” she admits. “Since it’s in Unova, I’ll probably head out there, at least for a bit. I’ll probably just end up looking for a job. I’m not good enough at battling to bother taking on the league, and I’m not smart enough to go into research. Amarys – that’s one of my friends from school – has a research degree all lined up for herself at Castelia University, so I’d like to head there with her.”
“You say you’re not sure, but it sounds like you have a plan.”
“Yeah, I guess,” Carmine says, managing a smile. “What about you? You’re a little young to be leaving school, but have you not already graduated? How old are you anyway?”
“Just turned fifteen. And yeah, I have graduated. But I can go back. I mean… there’s always more treasures to find. Mostly I want to do some more research. They’ve got a good library.”
“Not much older than Kiki,” Carmine comments idly. “Would you ever go back to Galar?”
“Maybe,” Juliana muses. “I have family there, so I would to visit. But I like Paldea too.”
“I like having roots in two places,” the older girl agrees. “Johto and Unova… I feel like I can go to either of them and feel at home.”
“I know what you mean.”
“But there’s still I have to do here before it can feel like home. Fix this, for a start. And then fix the mess with Kiki. And I know, it’s my fault, but… I still think he overreacted.” Juliana says nothing to that, choosing to ignore it, lest she make this situation even worse.
“Do you think your grandpa can really fix the mask?”
“He better,” Carmine says grimly.
Each night, Juliana returns to the community centre more and more exhausted. Ms Briar notices, and asks, but she remembers her promise to Carmine, and tells her teacher that she’s okay, and she’s just been battling some strong Pokémon out in the wilds. Her Rotom phone congratulates her every evening when she finally sits down that she’s broken another record for amount of steps taken.
She still can’t wrap her head around the truth of this story – every version seems to contradict itself in one way or another, and nothing really lines up. Even now that Kieran knows the truth, he seems angrier than before. Or perhaps he’s just upset at them for keeping the secrets? Juliana doesn’t think she knows him well enough to be able to tell, and Carmine just seems to vibrate with frustration any time she tries to ask.
She’s chased off the loyal three, and obtained all of Ogrepon’s masks. Now she just needs to return them to Ogrepon, and smooth things over with Kieran. Ogrepon will be easy enough to manage – the Pokémon seems friendly enough. Fixing her relationship with Kieran is another story. She worries about Carmine too – this may have done irreparable damage to their relationship.
Juliana’s alarm wakes her just as the sun is coming up, and she fumbles for her phone in the dim light. She has to trek up to the Dreaded Den again today, to see Ogrepon one last time. This is the last full day of their trip, she remembers, so this is her last chance to sort this once and for all. She thought she was coming here to make friends and learn a little about Kitakami, and while she supposes she has done that, so much more has happened.
She meets Carmine in the orchards, two masks each. They don’t say too much other than to confirm their plans, and then they’re off, heading up the hill. By the time they reach the base of the mountain, the sun is heading further towards its peak, bearing down upon them as they climb. The Dreaded Den is a touch hike, but eventually they make it – but not before Kieran catches up to them.
He has been training – non-stop, seemingly. Juliana worries about his Pokémon. In a matter of days he’s caught nearly a full new team of strong Pokémon, enough to make her stop and think about all her choices instead of just calling whatever move like she did when they first battled. She still wins with ease, Meowscarada purring with pride. Kieran tears up, and Carmine almost goes to comfort him, until he turns away.
“Ogrepon is all yours, then,” he says. Juliana swallows hard. She has no words to tell them that Ogrepon isn’t something to be won – it’s a Pokémon with a mind of its own and even if he had beaten her it still might not want to go with him. But she can tell from the glazed-over look in his eyes that Kieran is past reasoning with.
There’s a sour taste in her mouth as she steps up to battle Ogrepon. A combination of guilt and pure exhaustion has her feeling nauseous, and Ceruledge notices as she sends it out first. She can’t help but continue to glance over to Kieran as she battles. He’s doing his best not to watch – hard to do when his sister is actively cheering Juliana on. But then she’s got Ogrepon in a ball, and crosses to lift it. She scans the ball with her phone, and adds Ogrepon to her Pokédex.
“Good job,” Carmine congratulates.
“Yeah,” Kieran murmurs, his voice wobbly. “Congrats.”
And then he begins to cry in earnest, turning on his heel to run back to town, his sobs echoing off the stones as he goes. Juliana turns to Carmine, who simply rolls her eyes in disgust.
“Ugh. I hate when he gets like this.”
“He… he’s done this sort of thing before?”
“Similar,” Carmine says, without extrapolating. “Let’s head back. I’m sure you’re tired after all that.”
“He won’t talk to anyone,” Carmine tells Ms Briar apologetically as the students line up for the bus back to the airport. “Not feeling well again. Hasn’t been right most of the week.”
“Poor thing. Well, give him my best. I hope he feels better soon. It’s a shame that he couldn’t manage to come say goodbye, but I hope he enjoyed orienteering.”
“I think he did. I’ll pass on your well wishes,” Carmine says. With a nod, Ms Briar turns back to the other students, making sure the youngest has his backpack filled with the things he came with.
“I hope he’s alright,” Juliana says quietly. Carmine snaps her attention around.
“He’ll cope,” she replies, though she doesn’t sound entirely convinced. With a sigh, she changes her mind. “I heard him crying all night. He didn’t come out for dinner, either.”
“I feel bad.”
“Don’t. It was my fault. I just wanted to keep him safe, but… guess I don’t know how.” She tries to smile, but it’s shakier than she intended it to be.
“It’ll be fine in the end,” Juliana says, managing a smile of her own.
“I hope you’re right.” Carmine reaches into her bag and pulls out her phone – a normal one, not one powered by a Rotom. “Give me your number. If anything bad happens, I can let you know. And it would be nice to keep in touch regardless. Kiki doesn’t have a phone, and I’m not supposed to have one either, so keep your mouth shut!”
Juliana doesn’t mention how keeping her mouth shut is what has gotten them into this mess in the first place. Instead, she calls out a string of digits, watching Carmine press buttons to input it into her contacts.
“Oh, you’re off,” she says, motioning to the line of Uva Academy students heading towards the bus. “It was nice to meet you, Juliana. I’m sure our paths will cross again in the future.”
She drops her hand onto Juliana’s shoulder, heavy and warm, and smiles for real.