Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Ugh! Just look at them, Kieran. They're even bigger squares than I thought."

"Really? They all look… pretty normal to me."

"Well of course you think that, Kiki. You're as much a square as they are!"

Kieran lowered his binoculars. "Hey, I'm—I'm not a square."

Carmine lowered hers for a second just to roll her eyes and scoff at her younger brother.

"You are. But you're lucky our school's colors make you look a little less lame. Take a look at what Paldea's oh-so-prestigious academy forces these dweebs to wear. Purple? As a color for school uniforms?" Carmine chuckled to herself. "Who do you suppose their mascot is, a big smiling grape?"

"I mean… our school's called Blueberry Academy—"

"Hey!" Carmine interrupted. "Don't argue with your sister. It's not very nice."

"But, but…" Kieran sighed in resignation. "Okay. Sorry, sis."

Carmine leaned in a bit further on the stone wall to try to get a better shot at the group all standing around at the bus stop just outside of Mossui Town.

"Geez, look at Ms. Briar yapping on and on. Those poor kids look bored out of their minds. With any luck, they'll decide this trip's way too lame for them and want to run back home."

She scoped and re-scoped the lens of her binoculars trying to adjust her focus.

"Oh?" Then, at that moment, her eyes were drawn to one of the students in particular.

"Hey, Kieran. Take a look at that girl."

"The one with the braid in her hair?"

"Yeah. Her. The one that's almost as short as you."

Carmine was now laser-focused on a young girl among the class. She indeed rivaled Kieran in height, but looked mature enough that she was probably closer to Carmine's age than her little brother's. Her hair was a soft dark brown with a right side braid, and she was wearing what appeared to be the slim "summer" variant of her school uniform.

As Carmine observed this girl, she started to giggle out loud, surprising Kieran. As Briar talked endlessly, the girl had started gazing in all sorts of directions at the landscape around her.

What amused Carmine even more was how much this girl seemed to smile bigly at Pokémon such as Spinarak or Poochyena wandering about nearly, as if she'd somehow never seen such common Pokémon before.

"So what's your story, little miss sunshine? Never been outside and seen grass with your own eyes?" Carmine scoffed derisively. "I told Ms. Briar this was a terrible idea. These kids are your typical tourists, so cozied up in their own little world that dumb, simple things are amazing to them just because they're somewhere 'exotic'. Kids like her are going to ruin our little haven of a town."

"Huh… I don't know," Kieran doubted. "She seems pretty harmless to me. In fact, she looks kinda cool…"

Carmine took off her binoculars and gave her brother a miffed look.

"Really cool, huh? Perhaps I should introduce you to her if you want her to be your girlfriend so badly!" Kieran's whole face flushed red. "Didn't our grandparents ever teach you not to trust strangers?"

"Well…"

"And why should I trust your opinion, anyway? You're the same knucklehead who thinks the scary ogre from the legends is the good guy!"

"I told you, everyone's got that legend all wrong!" Kieran argued back. "I think what really happened is—"

Just then, Carmine caught sight of something and shushed Kieran quickly, putting her gloved hand over his mouth.

"Keep quiet, Kiki! Look!"

She pointed out in the distance. The girl, the same one she had been eyeing a minute ago, was now running up the road towards town. Alone, without the others.

"Oh my gosh! What is this?" Carmine guffawed. "Miss Pretty thinks she's real brave, huh? Doing reconnaissance for her scrawny little friends."

She stood up with an air of confidence.

"Come on, Kiki. It's time for us as Mossui Town's loyal guards to intercept this unwelcome visitor!"

"But, but…"

Kieran tried to argue, but Carmine had already run off with glee towards the town entrance. He sighed dejectedly.

"Man… why is she acting so high and mighty all of a sudden? And what does 'reconnaissance' mean anyway?"

"Awww! Aren't you a cutie!"

Juliana, a young Pokémon Trainer from Paldea and a student of Uva Academy, had made it halfway up the road to Mossui Town when she stopped to admire a small blue amphibious Pokémon that was dancing in delight atop a field of mud-soaked crops.

"You're a Wooper, right?" Juliana asked, flipping open her Pokédex to verify. "You sure do look very different from the ones we have back home, but you've still got that adorable smile!"

The pale blue-colored Wooper jumped in the air with a happy grin, and then dove into the muddy patch, only its eyes visible to the Paldean girl.

"Ooh, are you looking to play hide and seek?"

Juliana giggled at the Wooper's playfulness, but then her eyes were drawn back to her fellow students and chaperone still waiting at the bus stop.

"Gosh, there's so many cool new Pokémon just on this little road alone. I'd love to stay and explore so I can play with all of you, but I'm afraid I'm on an important mission! Wish me luck, okay?"

She waved goodbye to the Wooper, who gave a happy cry back to her as she resumed her trek up the hill and into town.

"Huh, so this is Mossui Town…"

Juliana glanced around at all the buildings and homely atmosphere of the small town. She barely made it down the road in front of the building Briar had pointed to when suddenly…

"NOT SO FAST!"

"Woah!"

Someone swooped in out of nowhere and blocked Juliana's path forward. She gazed at the figure and was surprised to see a very tall, extremely pretty girl who looked to be around her age, clad in a blue uniform with a unique hairstyle that was black at the front but with red highlights on its backside, and bangs in the shape of an X over her face. With a yellow headband holding it all together.

"Umm… hi! Who are you?" Juliana greeted her nervously.

A much shorter boy, clad in a white uniform and sporting a very similar hairstyle to the tall girl's, ran up behind her, panting a little.

The taller girl took a few seconds to just stare at Juliana, scanning her up and down.

"So… you're one of those students who came from the Paldea region, huh?"

"Woah… way cool…" muttered the short boy as he peered out from behind her. Juliana gave him a soft smile, which made him blush.

"Hush, Kieran," his companion whispered.

"Y-yeah. That's right! My name's Juliana!" she greeted enthusiastically. "What's yours?"

The girl raised an eyebrow at her.

"You're awful friendly to strangers, aren't you? Well, the name's Carmine to you and you've got a lot to learn about this place."

"Hi, Carmine!" Juliana replied without skipping a beat. "Say, would you mind helping me out, please? That's the community center, right?" She asked, pointing to the building.

"Heh. That's on a need-to-know basis, I'm afraid."

"…But that is the community center," Kieran mumbled.

Carmine seethed at her younger brother. "Ugh! What part of 'need to know' did you not pick up on!? Don't give the outsiders all our town secrets!"

"Sis, there's… there's a sign right there saying it…"

Juliana watched this back and forth banter between the two, and despite trying her best to stifle herself, started giggling.

This only served to redirect Carmine's ire.

"Hey! Just what are you laughing at!?"

"You two!" Juliana responded between giggles. "You're so funny! Are you guys brother-and-sister or something?"

"Is it that obvious?" Kieran wondered, fingering the cross-shaped bangs over his face.

"This mockery will not go unpunished!" Carmine seethed, bringing her hands in front of her face like fists. She took a deep breath and regained her composure. "Sorry kid, but Mossui Town is a very sacred village. We can't just let any outsider wander in."

"Really?" Juliana quickly looked back at the road where her group was waiting. "Eeeven if it's a medical emergency?"

Carmine shook her head. "You look fine to me. So did all your little friends from where I could see them. Excuses will get you nowhere. If you insist on coming in, you'll have to battle me first."

Kieran shuffled off to the side, looking embarrassed.

"C-c'mon, sis… You just wanna battle. Makin' this big fuss over nothing…"

"I told you to hush, Kiki!" Carmine seethed again. She turned back to Juliana with a smile. "Just ignore my little brother."

"Aw man…"

"Well then… sure! Why not?" Juliana eagerly dug out one of her Poké Balls. "I'm always fair game for a fun battle!"

Hope you're fair game for getting stomped on too, you smiley weirdo.

"Alright, let's do this. Get into position!" Carmine smirked at her opponent. "I'm going to have some real good fun with you."

"Welcome to Kitakami! For your first experience, get ready to eat dirt!"

The battle began, with Carmine sending out her trusty Poochyena. Juliana, knowing she knew next to nothing about the Pokémon that Kitakamites use in battle, went with her trusted partner first.

"Meww!" cried Floragato.

"Aww, it's so cute!" Carmine seemed to beam. Then her devious smirk returned. "It's going to look even cuter laying flat on the pavement!"

But in spite of her best efforts, Juliana's Floragato managed to hang on from Poochyena's vicious attacks and hit back with a strong U-turn, leaping into the air. This took out the Dark-type Poochyena completely, causing it to faint.

"Drat!" shouted Carmine.

"Woah…" said Kieran.

Carmine growled. "So your little school does teach you a few smarts about battling amidst all the boring math and history subjects, huh? W-well, big deal! Let's see how well your little friend does against this!"

She tossed another Ball, which brought out a cute orange fox-like Pokémon.

"Ohhhh, so adorable!" Juliana gleamed, kneeling down. "That's Vulpix, isn't it? It's a Fire-type, but it can also be an Ice-type depending on the region! We read about it in school!"

"Oh, you read about it in a book. Well at Blueberry Academy, we really learn all the advanced battling techniques, and we do it on the field! Hey, where'd that grassy cat go anyway?"

Juliana gave her a bemused look.

"Umm… Floragato went back into its Ball. That's—that's how the move U-turn works. Don't they teach you about moves like that at your school?"

Juliana meant it with sincerity, but Carmine looked gobsmacked.

Kieran couldn't help but snicker. "You walked right into that one, sis."

"Shut up! Both of you!" Carmine was really ticked off. So that whole 'nice girl' routine was just an act! She caught me off-guard just to make fun of me!

"I guess I have the advantage now," Juliana smiled. "Go Finizen!"

Juliana's Finizen popped out from a Net Ball and did a graceful flip in the air.

"You hoard a lot of cute Pokémon, don't you?" Carmine cracked a bit of a smile. "You're just like a girl I know back at school. But cuteness alone doesn't equal strength, or else I'd be the strongest person in the world! Vulpix, give 'em a good Quick Attack!"

"Vul! Vul! VULPIX!"

Vulpix dazzled its opponent by seeming to appear and disappear like lightning, getting ready to strike when…

"Finizen, Aqua Jet!"

Before Vulpix even had a chance to attack, Finizen charged forward like a torpedo in water and blasted Vulpix with a burst of bubbles, leaving it severely weakened.

"Wowzers, so cool!" Kieran marveled.

Carmine seethed yet again. "Wh- who's side are you on anyway!? Keep your comments to yourself!"

"Aww…"

"Okay, Finizen!" Juliana commanded with confidence. "I think it's time we flipped this battle around! Go, Flip Turn!"

Carmine scoffed to herself. You sound like an anime protagonist.

With a heartened dolphin chirp, Finizen braced itself, and then charged forward, hitting Vulpix like a crashing wave of water before flipping in the air.

"Vul…"

Vulpix fainted, and Finizen returned to its Ball.

Carmine was enraged. "Do you have any Pokémon that actually stay out the whole battle instead of running away like cowards!?"

Juliana shrugged with a smile. "It's a solid strategy."

"Grrr! There's nothing more solid than what my last Pokémon is going to do to you! GO, Poltchageist!"

Carmine sent out her last Pokémon, a curious floating Pokémon that looked like a tea caddy full of matcha tea.

Juliana gasped in delight. "OH MY GOSH! Is that a regional form of Sinistea!?" She eagerly pulled out her Pokédex to scan. "I didn't know Sinistea had one of those!"

"Sinistea? So you come from one of the places that has that dainty little teacup?" Carmine put her hand over her mouth as she giggled. "I feel so sorry for you! This right here is Poltchageist! It's way cuter and way more awesome than your silly Sinistea!"

Her Poltchageist waved its stick in the air and cried happily.

"And it's called Polt-cha-geist? Not… Sinist-cha? Why'd they mix the names up?"

"I've always wondered that too," Kieran commented.

"Wh—I don't know!" Carmine barked. "Hey, are you going to just keep making googly eyes at my Pokémon or are you going to take this seriously?"

"Fair enough. You asked for it. Go, Ceruledge!"

"HYUHH!"

Ceruledge practically somersaulted into battle and sheathed its flaming blades with great fury.

"That's the coolest one yet!" Kieran beamed.

Carmine's eyes were wide. "Wh… what— what the heck is that thing!?"

Poltchageist began to shake nervously, getting the feeling it was suddenly in danger…

The battle ended as one would naturally expect.

Poltchageist fell, and Carmine reluctantly recalled her last Pokémon and admitted defeat.

"You… who ARE you?" Carmine whispered to herself.

"Wowzers!" Kieran exclaimed. "I can't believe you beat my sis!"

With a proud sigh, Juliana recalled Ceruledge and walked up to face her tall opponent again.

"I can't believe it… there's no way you should've been able to beat me!" Carmine growled.

"Glad we got that all settled," said Juliana. "That was a great battle!"

Carmine just shook her head. "Yeah, I'm sure it was for you."

"You had fun too, right?" asked Juliana. "As long as you put in your all, that's what matters in the end!"

"…What."

Carmine just leered at the strange new girl in response, as if trying to read her.

"Umm…" Juliana's eyes shifted around nervously.

"Are you making fun of me?"

"What? No! Of course not! I would never do that to someone! I was being serious. You're a great battler."

Carmine's expression barely changed. "Okay…"

Hmm. She's either a master of manipulation… or a girl who's way too nice for her own good.

"…Fine. I guess you pass. Barely." She said that last word with gritted teeth. "Seems I've got no choice. I'll let you into town, but only if you become one of my grunts and do every little thing I say—"

Just then, a voice cut her off.

"Oi! What're you doing, causin' a ruckus out here!"

The siblings looked behind them to see the very angry caretaker of Mossui Town's community center approaching them.

"Tch. Here comes trouble… C'mon, Kiki. We're out of here." Carmine then pointed her finger threateningly at Juliana. "You haven't seen the last of us, goldilocks."

She sprinted off into town after that, leaving her addled brother behind.

"B-but I—" Kieran gave Juliana a quick apologetic look, then took off after his sister. "Wait up, Sis!"

Juliana sheepishly waved goodbye.

The caretaker turned to her with an apologetic look.

"Why, hello there, stranger! You must be one of the students from the Paldean academy, right?"

"That's me," Juliana responded. "My name's Juliana."

"Charming to meet you! What a polite young girl. You can call me Nao. I help run the community center here in Mossui Town… and a far few other things besides!" Nao looked in the direction the siblings had run off to. "I hope those two kids weren't giving you any grief just now… were they?"

"Well… a little bit. But it wasn't a huge problem."

"I'm glad you're such a good sport about it. I hardly know what to do with the two of them… Especially that Carmine. Always been a handful, that one. I apologize if she gave you a hard time."

"Oh, it wasn't too bad," Juliana assured him. "Actually… I had a lot of fun. They're not so terrible."

Especially Carmine… She was kind of pushy, but it made her a lot of passion into that battle. I hope I get to meet her and her brother again.

Juliana felt a weird tenderness in her heart, thinking about those two.

From there, the caretaker was alerted to the group's situation with the student who was nauseous from the traveling, and he along with Juliana and the rest of the group was shown into the community center's quarters.

Night fell onto the land of Kitakami, and the village of Mossui became quiet as a mouse.

Quiet everywhere… except for inside the house at the top of the highest hill in town.

"It was amazing! The dolphin Pokémon swooped around and twirled in the air like it was a ballet dancer, and took out Sis's Vulpix in a single wave of water!"

"How thrilling!" Hideko remarked, listening to his grandson's raving tale.

Kieran was a ball of energy running around the dining table in excitement as he pantomimed all the actions he was describing. His grandfather sat and listened with keen earnestness, while his grandmother got up to start collecting everyone's dinner plates.

Carmine was batting around her last piece of braised cabbage with a fork, trying her best not to look irritated as her younger brother regaled in the story of her latest defeat.

"And then—and then—Juliana sent out her last Pokémon! And it was this amazing Pokémon Sis and I had never seen before! It was like a cool knight in shining armor with a blue flame on its head! And both of its arms were SWORDS with even more blue flames on it! You should've seen it Grandma, it was so incredible!"

"Oh, I bet it was, sprout," his grandmother Yukito replied.

Carmine stood up suddenly. "Let me help you with those plates, Grandma."

"Hoo! My, my, dearie!" Yukito chuckled. "You've never offered to help me clean up before."

"That Blueberry school must be doing wonders for your manners," Hideko chortled.

"It's nothing to do with that. I'd just rather be anywhere than hear any more of Kiki's rambling about how badly I lost," she replied, shooting a glare in Kieran's direction.

"Awww, come on, sis. You gotta admit that battle was really awesome even if you lost. Juliana was pretty cool! Y-y'know, for an outsider, I mean."

Carmine just scoffed and followed her grandmother into the kitchen with a stack of plates.

As Yukito turned on the sink and started rinsing dishes, she turned to her granddaughter with a polite smile.

"Why must you always be such a sourpuss towards Kiki, Carmine? As his big sister, you should be encouraging him more."

"Humph." Carmine looked indignant.

"Don't you want him to be happy? It's okay to be upset that you lost a battle, but do you know when's the last time we saw Kieran this excited about something? You write to us all the time about how much trouble he has fitting in with the other kids at your school, and that he's always so put-down. We can only do so much to cheer him up here. You're his big sister and you're always watching over him. That means it's your job to support him, sweetie."

Carmine sighed. "I know, Grandma. I promise I'll do a better job at supporting Kiki… just so long as he gets better at listening to my orders!"

Yukito chuckled. "You inherited our family's stubbornness gene alright, dearie. But you need to learn to lighten up a bit. Now head on back out there and I'll fix you both up some delicious mochi!"

Carmine nodded with a smile and walked out of the kitchen, stewing over her grandma's words.

She stopped in the middle of the hallway as she grasped one of her Poké Balls. A look of determination came upon her face.

"You want me to be less stubborn towards Kieran and 'lighten up'? Fine. Then instead, I'll channel all that energy into finding a way to wipe that dumb smile clean off that Juliana girl's face."

Chapter Text

The next day, all the Uva students lined up outside the Mossui Town community center, with Ms. Briar their chaperone and Nao the caretaker gathered and the Kitakami siblings standing next to them.

"Morning, everyone!" Ms. Briar greeted. "Starting today, you'll be joined by two students from our own Blueberry Academy. Go on, kids! Introduce yourselves!"

The taller sibling rolled her eyes but put on her best fake smile.

"Hi! I'm Carmine! It's a pleasure to meet all you outsiders—I mean visitors from Paldea! Hee-hee!"

She opened her eyes… and was met with the sight of Juliana jumping up and waving at her excitedly. Carmine snarled her lip and gave a dramatic hair flip in response.

"I-I'm Kieran…"

"Carmine and Kieran actually grew up here, so ask them for help if you need anything," Nao instructed. "And you two had better be of real help, you hear me?"

"Aye-aye." Not on these brats' lives, old timer.

"R-right…" I hope they all go to Carmine instead of me…

Nao proceeded to explain the orienteering exercise he had planned for the schoolgoers, splitting them into pairs, having them find three signboards in Kitakami depicting the land's old folk legends, and taking snapshots in front of them.

"Remember that one of the goals of this trip is to deepen the ties between our two schools," Briar informed them. "Having someone who knows the area well would be a big help so… let's try to maximize the number of interschool pairs, okay? Time to mingle!"

She stepped back to give both pairs of students the room to interact, which made Kieran gulp.

"I thought you and I would just go together," he whispered to Carmine.

"Yeah, tough luck, huh? Guess we'll have to divide and conquer."

Carmine put on a smile she knew didn't look too genuine as she gazed around. So which one of you rugrats will take the plunge?

Kieran tried his best not to just stare at the ground.

The students from Uva Academy all looked at them rather nervously, no doubt intimidated by these students from another school, especially after having heard tales around town about them being awfully rowdy.

So it figures one brave student would be the first to approach them.

Juliana smiled at the two of them. Carmine just raised an eyebrow.

The things I'd shout at you right now if the adults weren't here…

"Oh, it's you… You're Juliana or whatever, right?" Carmine asked, pretending she hadn't heard the pest's name a dozen times back at home.

"Yup! And you're still Carmine!" Juliana nodded with the same saccharine smile. "And… Kieran, right?"

"Y-you remembered me…" Kieran breathed.

"Let me guess, you want to pair up with one of us poor, lonely Blueberry students? Or did you just not get enough of my insane beauty yesterday?"

Juliana blushed a lot, which only made Carmine's sickly smile grow.

"Well, m-maybe not like that but… yeah! Our battle yesterday was so much fun, and I'd love to get to know you better. … B-both of you, I mean."

Of course the enemy wants to learn our secrets.

"Gosh, it's so sweet that you were thinking of us all this time." Carmine replied in a very unserious tone. She took a quick glance at Kieran, and a devilish idea formed in her head. "Oh yeah. So my little brother here has been all googly-eyed over you since yesterday."

Kieran gasped at being called out.

"Really?" said Juliana, sounding touched. Kieran tried to hide behind his bangs as his face flushed.

"N-n-no I haven't!"

"He wouldn't stop talking about you, even at home. I seriously couldn't get him to shut up."

Kieran stared angrily at her. "S-Sis! What're you tellin' him that for, dummy!"

"HEY! Watch who you call 'dummy' if you know what's good for you!" Carmine threatened, raising her fist.

"Aww man…" Kieran turned around and hung his head in shame.

"Look at him, being all shy…"

"Umm…" Juliana looked at Kieran, feeling uncomfortable. The siblings' banter was certainly less humorous than it had been yesterday.

"See, Juliana, here's the thing. My brother's no good at talking to people. He'd probably never work up the nerve to ask you himself, but he'd really like a battle with you."

"Eep!" Kieran practically buried his head in his hands.

"I don't know…" Juliana continued to glance at Kieran with concern. "Kieran? Is she telling the truth? Do you really want a battle?"

Kieran meekly lifted his head up. "I- I… Y-yes?"

"Ooookay… As long as you're sure, then… I'm game."

"Well, what do you know!" Carmine clapped. "Turns out you're very agreeable. This will make my brother real happy."

She snickered a bit while thinking to herself.

Yeah… and depending on the outcome, he'll be much easier to wrangle again. Either he manages to defeat you and lose all his naïve respect for you, or you wipe the floor with him and he comes crying back to his big sis again. Either way, a win-win for me.

"What!?" Kieran's head lifted up again. "W-wowzers! Really? You don't mind?"

"I don't mind a single bit," Juliana reassured him with a soft smile. "I already got to battle your sister and it was a lot of fun! I'm excited to see what you've got too, Kieran."

"You see? Chin up, Kiki! And show her everything you're made of!"

As Carmine told everyone to start clearing out for the battle, Juliana watched her with an annoyed look. I wish your sister didn't have to push you into this, though…

"Awesome battle!" the rest of the kids cried after the battle was said and done.

Kieran smiled at Juliana. "W-wowzers! You sure are strong, Juliana!"

"Thanks, Kieran!" Juliana smiled back. "You weren't so bad yourself! You sounded really confident wi—"

"Yeah, yeah, great battle and all!" Carmine suddenly interjected, shoving Kieran aside. "But just hold on a minute! Since when did you get ahold of a Wooper and a Cutiefly!? Those weren't in your team yesterday, and I sure as heck know Wooper like that aren't native to Paldea!"

Juliana reared back in shock. "W-well, yeah." She sent out the Wooper and Cutiefly she had just used in battle, and the Wooper joyfully snuggled up on its Trainer's shoulders while Cutiefly hovered around her. "When we all got up this morning, I had some time to train along the road and catch some Pokémon! I met this adorable little Wooper yesterday and promised I'd come back for him."

She tickled Wooper's abdomen, and Wooper hopped up and down on her shoulder in bliss.

"Besides, I like to change up my team between big battles. That way, I get to befriend as many Pokémon as possible!"

"Oh-ho, is that so? How strategic of you."

I knew the 'nice girl' thing was all an act! This devious rat is trying to thwart my attempts at making a strategy against her, and she's already messing with our local fauna! I warned Ms. Briar this whole inner school trip was going to completely ruin Kitakami's ecosystem!

Focus, Carmine. Losing your cool is exactly what she wants you to do.

"Man, you're so amazing, Juliana…" Kieran said in awe.

For a second, Carmine smiled seeing her brother so happy, then she remembered her "mission" and cleared her throat to speak civilly.

"You really aren't half bad, especially using Pokémon you don't deserve—I mean, aren't familiar with. Kiki's nearly as strong as I am, you know."

"I dunno about that…" Kieran replied sheepishly.

"Oh, I could tell that," said Juliana. "You're pretty evenly matched in strength." Kieran couldn't help but blush again.

Carmine rubbed her chin in thought. I need to learn more about this girl and how to break her. But I don't think I can stand to be around that naive smile of hers all day without going crazy…

This calls for some reconnaissance duty.

"Say… this orienteering thing. We're supposed to group up in pairs, right?"

"That's what Ms. Briar said."

Carmine flashed a toothy grin. "You should go ahead and pair up with Kiki, then!"

"O-oh," Juliana said, sounding surprised. "…Really?"

"What!?" Kieran looked up in shock. "No, sis, don't-!"

"Don't what? It's not like we can pair up." She put her arm around Kieran and gestured to the other students. "Or were you hoping to pair up with some other rando outsider instead?"

Kieran gulped while looking at the other students. They all looked back at him rather awkwardly.

"Well… no, but… aw man…" He threw his head down again, feeling like he could barely look in Juliana's direction.

"Don't worry. He's just being shy," Carmine reassured Juliana.

Juliana walked over and gently put her hand on Kieran's, which startled him.

"It's okay, Kieran," Juliana giggled. "Seriously, I don't bite. I'd love to go with you."

She stepped back a bit, feeling like she almost saw a bit of a glare from Carmine out of the corner of her eyes.

"R-really? Wowzers…"

"I'll go find some chump to pair up with too. Watch out for my little bro, you," said Carmine, giving an eager thumbs-up. "Or else."

Juliana gulped. The threat was clear.

Carmine walked away grinning. Kieran stood still. Juliana smiled awkwardly at him.

"This is gonna be fun, right Kieran? Hiking through Kitakami together… You showing me the land you grew up in."

Kieran forced himself to look up. But when he saw Juliana's eager smile, his face flushed red again.

"U-um, yeah. Yeah… totally." He cleared his throat. "So um, it looks like… we should probably start with the signboard at… Loyalty Plaza…"

Meanwhile, Carmine walked in a calm stride before planting her feet and crossing her arms, smirking at the impressionable Uva students, who shook nervously while looking at her.

One of them bumped another boy, blond haired with glasses, up front.

"You can have her," he said hastily.

"What? But I—"

"Well, well, well. Fresh meat." Carmine knelt down to the shorter student's level. "Looks like you're going to be my new best friend for this trip."

The boy rattled like a leaf. "Alright, s-sure. My name's Bu—"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Carmine waved him off. "Come on, let's not dilly dally. I want to get this— I mean, we should get this done before the sun sets. Otherwise, they'll leave us behind to fend for ourselves against the vicious wild Pokémon around here."

"W-will they really do that?"

"I don't know," she shrugged. "Probably."

She couldn't help but steal another glance back at Juliana and her younger brother. They were still getting ready to leave, and she heard Kieran say something along the lines of:

"I'll probably get in your way if I stick too close, so I'll just… follow you from a safe distance!"

He then ran off on his own towards the Apple Hills, leaving Juliana behind. Juliana looked between the Wooper and Cutiefly who supposedly belonged to her now, and after a moment's hesitation, walked forward at a slow pace.

Seemingly making no effort to keep up with the flighty Kieran.

Carmine sneered as she watched Juliana leave.

"You'd better look after him, you mousey little twerp…"

"Umm, C-Carmine, that's your name?" Her new 'pal' was trying to regain her attention. "Are we leaving soon, or…?"

"Yeah, we are. Come on. Let's head straight to the farthest ones near Kitakami Hall and get this dumb exercise over with."

"Okay, but—Ow! Ow! Quit dragging my arm like that!"

Wiggle. Wiggle. Wiggle.

Click.

"Yes!" Juliana celebrated. "That's Applin caught!"

Cutiefly, the Pokémon she'd used to weaken the Apple Core Pokémon, chirped happily with her. Juliana ran up to the nearby farmer watching, holding the Nest Ball in gratitude.

And Kieran, watching from a distance, shyly clapped too.

"Thank you so much for the suggestion, mister! I didn't know Applin has a third possible evolution! None of my textbooks talked about it!"

The apple farmer chuckled. "There's plenty of things you can't find out by burying your head in books all day little missy, you gotta go out into nature to discover it for yourself!"

Kieran snickered a bit. He sounds just like Carmine, but a lot friendlier.

"Duly noted!" Juliana giggled. "So where do I find the special apple to evolve it?"

"Heh! …I don't know, actually," the farmer answered, his smile deflating. "…Sorry."

"Oh." Juliana stared blankly at him for a bit. "Well… thanks anyway!"

"You kids take care now!"

"Come on, Kieran!" Juliana motioned to her partner.

"C-coming."

Juliana briskly walked up the hill, admiring the fresh scent of all the apple trees on the… aptly named Apple Hills. After a bit of walking, she turned around to Kieran… only, to her confusion, for him to have completely vanished. She looked around but saw no sight of him.

"Huh… I guess this is the part where he 'hangs back from a distance' now."

Deciding to let Kieran do his own thing, Juliana was about to turn a corner on one of the treegrounds looking for more brand new Pokémon to catch when she heard a sound behind her.

She quickly whipped her head around to see a small silhouette duck into a nearby bush.

She sighed. "Kieran… I know that's you."

No response.

She decided to ignore it and continue walking. Just as she walked past another tree however, she heard loud sprinting. She whipped around again, just in time to see someone gasp and hide behind the tree.

"…Carmine wasn't kidding about you being shy, huh?"

Juliana shook her head and decided to continue her stride. She reached out her hand and felt a few droplets hit them.

"Oh… rain. Hmm-hmm. Now it feels like running around in Paldea again."

She heard movement behind her a couple more times, but from now on she decided to just ignore it. The noises continued at a greater pace, seemingly aware that they didn't need to be so cautious.

"I was serious about what I said before," she said. "I really don't bite. I'm sorry if I came off as a bit too eager for you. I just get… excited by a lot of little things, I guess!"

There was a soft sound of little feet walking behind her now. Juliana grinned, and part of her wanted to just turn around and catch Kieran on the spot. A way to force him out of his shell.

But… I don't want to break his trust like that when we just met…

"I hope you don't feel like I'm putting you down for being shy… I get it. The world can be a frightening place sometimes. Especially when you don't know how to talk to people."

Juliana smiled in reminiscence. She remembered for a brief moment, that one girl she met on her first day of school, who she saved from some rather pushy Team Star grunts.

I never even got her name. I hope she's doing okay…

"It is nice walking with somebody, though." Juliana smiled again, this time with all heart. "I hope I can find a way to break you out of your shell, and that we can be friends."

She couldn't hear anything else behind her, as she started to approach the park area she assumed was the Loyalty Plaza. But… in some weird sense, she was sure she felt a smile behind her.

"Come on, kid! We haven't even made it to Oni Mountain yet, and my clothes are getting soaked out here!"

The unlucky Uva student who had gotten paired with the pushy Carmine was panting up and down as he braved the many staircases leading up from the backend of Kitakami Hall up to Oni Mountain, where one of the signposts was awaiting them.

"I'm sorry, Carmine… huff, huff… I'm getting there, but… it was such a hilly road to get here… And now all these stairs…"

"The land of Kitakami builds mighty warriors!" Carmine boasted. "I grew up in this town riding my bike up and down all these hills while you Uva kids were glued to your books, taking your silly little notes and memorizing math equations you're going to forget after you graduate. It's time you outsiders learned what the outside world is like!"

By now, they'd made it to the outer hills of the mountain, where Carmine couldn't help but grin watching a pack of Morpeko chowing on fallen berries nearby.

"We don't spend all our time cooped up in class, y'know…" he complained. "Uva Academy has tons of stairs… huff, huff… We just don't have to go up a lot of hills to get there. And we've got a courtyard… huff, huff, for battling too… Aye… What's with those weird looking Pichu?"

Carmine ignored him, just calmly walking up the hill with her arms held behind her head, a blissful smile on her face.

"And what about Miss Pretty, huh? Does she ever like to get down and dirty, or is she a nerd like you?"

"Huff, huff… who?"

Carmine spun around to face him, looking annoyed.

"Juliana. Your friend with the braid. Ringing a bell?"

"J-Juliana's not my friend. I've never even met her."

"Excuse me?"

"I don't really know any of the other kids from the trip. None of them are in my classes. We just… all picked a random number from a lottery and got chosen."

Carmine squinted at him for a second, and then rolled her eyes as she went back to walking with her back to him.

"Great. So you're completely useless to me. Tch, some reconnaissance."

The nameless student almost tripped on a rock he didn't see, and took a second to gather his breath.

"I thought kids from Blueberry Academy were supposed to be nice…"

Loyalty Plaza wasn't a huge park. But with all the flowerbeds and the way the sun poked through the trees to create a dancing show of light on the ground, it was a very beautiful sight.

Juliana saw the signboard in front of her, but she was hesitant to go right up to it, wanting to take in the sights of this plaza instead. She's used to all the public spaces in Paldea being packed with a fair amount of people, but… there were only a small handful of visitors in the Loyalty Plaza. It was somehow less lively but livelier in other ways for it.

The wonders of a region with way less people in it.

"You found the first signboard…" came a voice from behind her.

Juliana turned around and finally there was Kieran.

"S-sorry, did I startle you?"

Juliana exhaled. "No… you just frazzled me a little the way you kept sneaking up me, that's all."

Kieran reared back. "Wuh-!? But, I wasn't trying to—I'm so sorry!" He threw his head forward in shame.

"It's okay," Juliana reassured him. She was beginning to grow concerned at how easily this boy seems to deflate. "No harm done."

"Umm, I got you this…"

He reached into his bag and pulled out what looked like an apple of some sort. Juliana grabbed it, but was immediately caught off by how sticky it was in her hands.

"Oh! Sorry, it's, very syrupy…" Kieran started thumbing his bangs in embarrassment. "Gosh, I'm really blowing this, aren't I…?"

"What… is this?"

"It's a Syrupy Apple. The kind that evolves Applin into a Pokémon called Dipplin. It's really cool-looking, just like a candy apple! I actually have one myself!"

"Oh! Well, that's very handy. Thank you, Kieran."

"Yeah, umm… when you talked to that farmer about wanting one, I remembered that I bought a few of them from this empty stand that was selling one and had an extra one, so I… quickly ran home to get home. But I… should've said something instead of running off when you weren't looking. Sorry about that."

"That's fine but…" A few gears started turning in Juliana's head. "So wait, after I talked to that farmer, you ran back into town?"

"Mm-hm."

"So you weren't the person I heard following me and saw hiding behind things while I was walking up the hill?"

"Umm, no?" Kieran scratched his head. "Is that… something you want me to start doing instead of just hanging back?"

Juliana looked confused. "Uhh—well, I don't know, I just want you to feel relaxed, but then who was… ehh, just forget it."

"Uhh, okay. … You know, umm… if I had given you an Applin instead—Well, umm, see there's this legend I read about in another region where if you give—you give someone else that you like an Applin, it means…" He paused. "N-never mind, actually. I guess you should just read the signboard."

"Oh. … Okay."

"Yeah, I've already read it plenty of times, so g-go ahead."

Juliana took a read of the signboard. It detailed a legend of a fearsome ogre who lived in Kitakami a hundreds of years ago. It laid a fearsome attack on the villagers below, but a group of Pokémon called the Loyal Three laid down their lives to defend Kitakami from the ogre's attack, according to the board, and were laid to rest while the ogre was never seen again.

"Wow. That's some story."

"There's a monument to the Loyal Three right over there," said Kieran, pointing off to a statue fixture in the distance.

"Huh. Neat."

"Yeah. But umm…" he shuffled his feet a bit. "The thing about that is, well, don't you think the ogre in that folktale sounds kinda cool?"

"Hmmm…" Juliana gazed at the signboard again. She noticed that there was an illustration on the bottom showing large creatures she assumed to be the Loyal Three chasing down a smaller creature with horns and a large mask that looked like a scary face, brandishing a spiked weapon. "Yeah… it does look cool."

"Really!? You think so?" Kieran said a little too excitedly. "I—I think it's pretty cool. It was just one ogre facing down three opponents, and it was able to hold its own against them!" His smile faded. "Mmm… but most people in my village just think the ogre is scary and mean, and they make fun of me for thinking it's cool."

Juliana shook her head. "Well, that's not right."

"Yeah. Umm… so you really think so too, right? That the ogre is cool? You're not just… saying that to make me happy?"

Juliana gave him a puzzled look. Gosh, what made him so insecure?

"No, I—I really meant it. That drawing makes it look neat, especially that weapon it's holding. And y'know, I've met some Pokémon in Paldea that seemed really scary, but were actually really docile when you meet them. So it wouldn't be the first Pokémon to be misunderstood by everyone."

"Right!" He looked very chipper again. "You get it! I'm happy someone thinks the way I do! I often think the legends are probably wrong, and that the ogre might've been trying to defend itself! 'Cause this is its home and all. But I wouldn't dare say that to anyone in town."

"Hmm. It'd be great to find out the real truth someday."

"Yeah, I agree. Everyone in town is scared of the ogre...but me? I really like it. It was very strong, and very cool... and it didn't even care when everyone else shunned it... I've always wanted to be like that, ever since I was a kid." He took a big sigh. "I want to be just like the ogre."

"That's a very interesting dream to have."

"Yeah. I'm not very good at standing up for myself. My sis sorta ends up doin' everything for me… even when we're at school..." Kieran's feet shuffled nervously on the ground. "I really did want to have a battle with you, y'know. All that was true. But, I really needed her to speak up on my behalf."

"But you were very brave when I asked you if it was for real and you said yes," said Juliana. "And you put up a great fight. I think you've got a lot of strength inside you, Kieran. You just have to find out how to tap into it."

Kieran grinned warmly. "I...I do want to try to get stronger. So I can do things for myself, you know? I'm gonna become someone people can rely on. I want to become the strangest Trainer in my school. Then, just maybe someday… I could be that ogre's friend."

Kieran and Juliana took a picture of themselves posing in front of the signboard, as per the assignment. Then Kieran talked about sandwiches, which led to a surprise appearance from Juliana's sandwich-looking "kaiju".

"It's called Miraidon? And you ride on it, huh...? Wowzers, I've never seen another Pokémon like this… And it… comes out whenever it hears the word 'sandiwch'? Man, you've got some really unique Pokémon where you come from, Juliana."

After that, Kieran told her the next signboard they should go to was out in the Paradise Barrens, which they had to go through the Wistful Fields to get to, and decided he was going to leave so he could "hold back" like Juliana said it was okay for him to do.

After he left, Juliana took in one last look at the plaza. The lights of the park went on, which told her the day was starting to wind down.

"Best get to those other signboards as soon as we can."

As she walked out the archway to the plaza's entrance, some rocks and pebbles suddenly landed on the ground from above.

"Huh?"

She looked up. There was only the cliffs of the huge mountain bearing down upon her. But… for just a split second, Juliana thought she saw something looking down at her from up there.

Chapter Text

"Alright! Now give me a high-five!"

"FOO!"

Mienfoo jumped into the air with great momentum and gave its new Trainer a power-packed high-five.

"Yeah!"

Mienfoo made a graceful landing to the ground and flexed its might for Juliana.

"How are you so cute and yet also so brave?" Juliana marveled. "Alright, you're definitely staying on my team. I can't wait to see what you evolve into!"

"Foo!" Mienfoo saluted in agreement.

Then the Martial Arts Pokémon suddenly went on alert, hearing a faint clapping sound, and jumped on a rock, readying a fighting stance.

"Mienfoo!" it proclaimed, looking upward.

Juliana looked up at the hill above them to see Kieran. Kieran gasped when he realized he was spotted, and ducked away.

Juliana sighed. At least this time, it really is Kieran.

"Foo…" Juliana was alarmed to see Mienfoo beginning to charge up an Aura Sphere.

"No wait! It's okay, Mienfoo! He's a friend! He's just shy!"

"Mien?" Mienfoo cancelled its charge, and crossed its arms. "Mien…"

She sighed again in relief, then she and her new friend decided to walk onwards.

Juliana found herself resonating with the name Wistful Fields. Not strictly for the reasons it might've been named for, but the vast grassy hills and tiny mountains was making her feel a tinge of nostalgia for her homeland of Paldea, especially with the soft breeze rolling in. She felt like she was traveling up that one road between Cortondo and Cascarrafa with all the windmills.

She had faced several excited Trainers along this route, mostly Delinquents and Festival Kids, that also pleasantly reminded her of how Paldea was strangely filled with random Trainers scattered everywhere.

After soaking in the fresh new vibes of Kitakami and Mossui Town, Juliana began to feel weirdly at home again, encountering exciting Pokémon to fill her Pokédex with and foraging new team members just like back in her own region.

After squeezing her way between some short rocky plateaus, Juliana gasped as she came upon a completely open and breezy field, filled with vibrant Pokémon ambling around.

Juliana took a fresh moment to stare in awe at the sight before her, before she suddenly heard a soft thud. She turned around to see Kieran had used his Yanma to help him jump slowly down from the hill he had been standing on.

He and Juliana locked eyes for a second… before Kieran shyly ducked into a bush.

Juliana was doing her best to try not to look ticked off. Putting her hands in her pockets for a bit, she decided on something.

"Okay, Kieran," she called out into the distance. "How about this? You don't have to show your face if you really don't want to. But… I'm still going to talk to you as if you're there. Does that sound fair?"

She heard a rustling from the bush.

"I'm just… going to assume that's a yes."

Little did Juliana realize that the other Blueberry sibling was only several yards away… give or take a hundred meters upwards.

"Watch out for all these steam vents," Carmine cautioned her partner.

They had made their way to the Infernal Pass, a white craggy area on the side of Oni Mountain with a sweltering atmosphere, which was quickly answered by all the bursting steam vents strewn about.

"You know, a few years back, there was a kid… about your height, wore glasses just like you, who decided to stand on one of those. Then it went BOOM! right under his feet, and all that was left were his glasses, without the frames."

Carmine's partner just grumbled in response, having grown accustomed to all the tall tales she was telling at this point. Aside that, he was also busy tapping on his Rotom Phone.

She turned around to him and looked instantly irritated.

"Hah! Typical city tourists, fly out to the most awesome region you've ever seen and you still can't keep your eyes off your phones. How do you Paldeans even function?"

"I'm doing something important," he said, annoyed.

"Oh yeah? What's that?" she asked, walking backwards. "Checking to see if your cheerleader crush swiped right on Luvdisc?"

"No… you've been asking so many questions about that Juliana girl that I'm talking to some other students in our school's chatroom to see who might know her."

"…Oh." Carmine couldn't hide her surprised response. She hadn't expected this kid to actually put in effort trying to satiate her desire for intel. "Any takers, or is she a loner like you?"

She was so interested in this that she wasn't looking where she was going, and the Uva student looked up just in time to say—

"CARMINE, LOOK OUT!"

"Huh—YIPES!"

Carmine stepped back just as a huge steam vent rose up and burst just inches from where she was walking.

"Are you okay!?"

"Y-yeah… I'm fine," she responded, frazzled. "I'm—I'm made of steel, y'know."

"Heh… I guess you were the one not looking that time," he couldn't help but joke.

Carmine pouted in fury. "Don't rub it in, you little snot."

"Uhh, s-sorry. Umm…" He pulled up his phone again. "So… according to some of the kids I've talked to, apparently Juliana's actually starting to rack up a reputation among the kids who are doing the Gym Challenge."

"The Gym Challenge, huh? Still eight Gyms, Elite Four, and all that jazz?"

"Mm-hm. But if this is true, then it's kind of insane."

"What's that?"

"Well… apparently she only started school a few weeks before our Treasure Hunt began, and since then it's only been a few weeks but… they're saying she already has four Gym Badges!"

"Oh… is that really all?"

"Huh!?" He was surprised at Carmine's brazenness. "How is that not unbelievable!? She's only been doing the Gyms for a couple weeks and she's already halfway done!? I wish I had known I was standing next to such an efficient Trainer or I would've paired up with her!"

Carmine just started busting out in derisive laughter.

"What's so funny!?"

"You. You Paldeans are so funny, thinking your Gym Challenge is such a huge deal." She started walking up the pass again, forcing the kid to toddle alongside her.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Look, I hate to give you a hard reality check here. You might think the Gyms in the Paldea region are like the pinnacle of prestige. But guess what? To all the rest of us who have done Gym Challenges in other regions? Paldea's Pokémon League is a joke."

The kid gasped dramatically. "How can you even say that!?"

"Simple. All the Gym Leaders in your region are super easy and put no strategy into anything. And your Champion… ugh, what's her name again? Gerta?"

"It's GEETA!" he responded, sounding very offended. "Her name's Geeta! But we call her La Primera because she's one of the strongest and most respected Trainers in the region!"

Carmine rolled her eyes. "Well… whatever her fancy title is, she's still a pushover. We've run battle sims with her teams before. And every single other Champion solos her. Sorry to crush your spirits."

She waved her hand dismissively at the student from Uva as she walked ahead with her back turned to him.

He stood there with his arms crossed, feeling frustrated.

"Hmph. You're a very judgmental person."

"Excuse me!?" To his startlement, Carmine did a swift 180 and doubled back over to him, doing her seething motions again. "How DARE you say that to me! I'll have you know I'm one of the nicest people you'll ever meet back at my old school!"

He gulped. "I'm… sorry?"

Carmine looked him up and down, and turned her nose.

"Maybe it's for the best you stay knocking around in Paldea, squirt. You'd get eaten alive in a place like Unova."

She sprinted forward again to where the signboard for Infernal Pass was.

"Now hurry up and take that picture already!" She pointed her fingers at her cheeks with a smile. "…And make sure to get my good side, okay?"

"Sigh…"

"So umm… as you already know, my name's Juliana. My mom and I moved to Paldea when I was 3, so even though I wasn't born there it's still like I've been living there my whole life."

Juliana wanted to talk, but didn't know what else to say in a one-way conversation with someone that wasn't even making himself visible to her. So she decided to start simple by just… talking about herself.

"That Floragato you saw when I was battling your sister is my first ever partner Pokémon. It was just an adorable little Sprigatito when I first got it! I don't know if… you guys have Pokémon like Sprigatito around here or in the Unova region." She chuckled. "I guess not, since Carmine acted like she'd never seen it before. Heh. Her reaction to it was… kind of adorable, don't you think?"

She thought she heard a "Heh" from a rock above her, but wasn't too sure.

"Let's see…"

Juliana had been walking through the Wistful Fields for some time now, and she figured they must be getting close to Paradise Barrens since the grass was beginning to sparse out with patches of bedrock, and Kieran had mentioned it was a pretty rocky area.

"Ooh! I could tell you about some of my friends! I don't have a whole lot of them, because I just started school like, a month or two ago. But one of my best friends right now is someone I met on my first day going out! Her name's Nemona, and she's a Champion rank Trainer who's just… bursting with energy! She loves battling more than anyone else I've ever met. In fact, sometimes she can be a… a little much," Juliana admitted.

"But she's also one of the nicest girls I've ever met, and… she really wants me to become a Champion and get to her level so we can be rivals, which… I don't really know if that's my main goal, but it seems like she gets really happy every time I get further with beating the Gyms, so that's been my drive lately."

Juliana pulled something out of her bag, a special charm Nemona had given her when Julina told her about the trip she was going on. According to Nemona, it's supposed to bring good luck. Juliana didn't know whether she believed in such things, but decided to keep it along with her.

"Gosh, I can't wait to see her again…" She then giggled a bit. "I don't know if you guys would make good friends, though. She'd probably scare you all the way to the other side of the globe with how much she likes to talk!"

That time, she definitely heard a giggle. She couldn't tell where it came from, though.

"Alright… who else? Oh! I know! Arven! He's… a unique guy. His dad's actually a really famous Professor in our region. I don't think he has any of his dad's interests in science, but he's really passionate about cooking. So passionate that he's… sorta got me doing this uhh, really bizarre series of quests with him," she explained, knowing that was a bit of an understatement.

"I don't know what his goals are. He seemed kind of mean at first, but I guess he's just easily frustrated. He also seems… sad about something. I've asked him a couple times why he seems so down, but he just doesn't answer… I guess, I guess that's the reason I'm tagging along with him, is because this all seems to make him feel better…"

Juliana's eyes drifted to the ground. Talking about Nemona and Arven was starting to make her contemplate on something. And she stopped to a halt.

"You know… it's kind of funny. I tried to think of things to tell you about myself but… I ended up just gushing about my friends instead. I guess… unlike them, I don't really have a whole lot to my name yet. I'm still just, looking for my own treasure. Don't even… have a real goal in mind."

…

"I guess sometimes, it's just… hard to see yourself for who you are, and not just how everyone else sees you."

…

"…Yeah," came a faint voice. "I-I know what you mean."

This brought Juliana out of her funk. She still didn't know where Kieran was talking from, but she had just achieved a huge step in getting him to open up, and that was accomplishment enough.

"There are thugs on motorcycles everywhere you look, on bridges and street corners! And did I mention the eeevil Team Plasma? You make a wrong turn somewhere, and they'll jump out of nowhere and SNATCH your Pokémon right up!" Carmine declared, clasping her hands together like a trap. "And that's not to mention all the scary Pokémon you'll find in Unova!"

Her traveling companion just rolled his eyes at this point as they descended down the stairs back to Kitakami Hall.

"What? Are you not totally terrified?"

"We've got plenty of tough Trainers and strong Pokémon too, y'know. In fact… in our region, there's places you shouldn't go to because there's these gigantic Pokémon making their nests there. Like… super gigantic! Bigger than even a normal Pokémon of their species!"

Carmine just looked at him and scoffed incredulously.

"Giant Pokémon, huh? Get real, would you?"

"I-I'm serious!" he shouted, stomping his feet. "I can even show you the pictures to prove it!"

"Kid… listen here," said Carmine, craning her neck his way. "I can tell you right now, I'm probably never going to have any reason to pay your Paldea region a visit, unless Ms. Briar gets permission to study some big crater in your area for science-y stuff. But it sounds like that's almost impossible. So, don't feel like you have to impress me, okay? I really don't care."

The Uva student just stood there behind her, looking stumped.

"That Ms. Briar lady wants to… go to the Great Crater of Paldea? Why?"

"So… what about you?" Juliana tried to opine. "What's your history, Kieran?"

…

She just heard soft running sounds.

"Mm. Still not too comfortable talking about yourself, huh?"

"N-no. Sorry."

Juliana had reached what seemed like a cliff off into nowhere… only to realize Paradise Barrens was directly below. She made it down the little path cutting through the cliff, and was now in some real rocky territory like Kieran said.

"Okay, well… how about your sister? Carmine? She's… certainly unique."

"T-that's one way to put it," said Kieran's faint voice.

"She seems really cool in her own way," Juliana admitted. "She's got a lot of confidence in battling, and she is very pretty." She found herself giggling a bit, not sure why she said that.

The only response to that was silence, which made Juliana second-guess herself.

"Umm, we can talk about something other than your sister if you—"

"…You really think my sister's pretty?" came Kieran's voice, which sounded like it was a bit closer.

"W-well, yeah, I… I guess. She's… really cute."

"Huh. She likes to think that she's the prettiest girl in the world. I guess I-I didn't know whether anyone else thinks of her that way…"

Juliana smiled hearing Kieran talking with a bit more confidence. But then she thought back on the siblings' interaction back in town and frowned.

"She seemed like, she was being a little mean to you back there, though. You and… Carmine get along normally, right?"

She heard a groan from Kieran. "Yeah that's just… my sis. She gets very bigheaded sometimes, and makes some mean comments because of it. She also likes to order me around all the time, and won't let me do anything she says is too dangerous."

"Hmm…" Juliana wondered if there was an optimistic way to look at that. Being an only child, she had a hard time gauging sibling relationships. "It seems like she wants to think of herself as this mighty protector for your guys' home. I wonder if… maybe she sees herself as your protector too? Since she's your big sister and all."

"…M-maybe?" There was a pause for a bit. "At school, whenever she sees somebody else bullying me, she does give them a real good thrashing. And she also taught me a lot of things growing up, like battling. How to ride a bike. She helped me write my recommendation letter to get into Blueberry Academy too."

"Oh."

Juliana was surprised to hear all of this. She had only seen Carmine's more arrogant side the few things they'd interacted up to then… but now Kieran was describing someone who sounded softer and more caring.

"That's… that's really cool. Maybe I've been misjudging her this whole time. … You're lucky to have a sibling who looks out for you like that, and likes to do all those things with you."

…

"I never thought about it that way before…"

"Now I kind of want to get to know her better too."

"…C-Carmine is mean to me a lot sometimes, but she's… also one of the coolest people I know. …Once you get to know her anyway. A-and as long as you're not an 'outsider' or whatever."

Juliana chuckled. "Guess I'm out of the running then." She laughed lightly at herself, and was pleased to hear Kieran laughing from a distance too. She spotted something in the distance.

"Hey. There's the signboard."

"Hey, what the-!?"

Carmine sighed. "Now what's your problem?"

"There's a signboard right over there!"

The Uva student pointed to a signboard identical to the one they'd just taken a photo of at Infernal Pass. … This one was situated right at the outskirts of Kitakami Hall.

"It sure is. Good eye, squirt."

"Why didn't you point that out when we were walking by here? There are three signboards, right?"

Carmine shook her head. "Nah, there's a bunch of 'em. We could've just stopped here if we wanted."

"Why didn't we!?"

She just shrugged. "You looked like you needed the exercise. You're welcome." And then she casually walked away with a smile on her face.

"Grrr…"

Carmine looked out into the grounds of Kitakami Hall, where stalls were being set up for the Festival of Masks behind held that night. The caretakers were putting up banners, and Misha, the woman who runs the Ogre Oustin' game, was decorating carts to be used for storing berries in the activity.

"Gosh. I sure am glad they don't force Kieran and I to help set things up for the festival like they did when we were younger. They should be making you outsiders do the lousy work instead, right?" She cackled, expecting a response.

But to Carmine's surprise, her partner wasn't there anymore.

"Hey? Hey, where'd you go, you little brat!?"

"Whooaaaa!"

Carmine heard his astonished yell from off in the distance and ran down to the other side of town where she found him gaping at a monument.

"Do I seriously need to start keeping a leash on you, kid?"

"Hey, Carmine!" he called to her, seemingly having not heard her insult. "What's this cool looking rock?"

"What, that silly old thing? It's called uhh…" Carmine covertly read the plaque. "It's the Mossened Boulder, of course!"

"Woah!"

"You think that's something? Take a look over there."

She pointed to a lush gorge outside of town, where a tall spiny spire stood at the center of a lush space with rivers and cliffs.

"Wowwww!"

"That's the Fellhorn Gorge, and that big pointy spire is called the Fallen Horn. It fell off the mountain or… something like that."

"That's amazing!" The boy's head moved around as she gazed in awe at the beautiful gorge. "You're really lucky!"

"…Me?"

"Yeah! That you got to grow up in such a beautiful place like this! This is better than anything I've ever seen in Paldea!"

Carmine was taken aback. "Well, y-yeah! Of course it is! You think I don't know that? It's natural beauty, untouched by the meddling of rowdy outsiders like you."

Carmine was boasting again, but in actuality, she found herself mesmerized by the sights of the gorge too. Despite having lived here most of her life, she realized she'd never actually ventured to that part of Kitakami, or even stopped for a second to look at it.

That is pretty beautiful…

Not wanting the Uva student to see her looking soft, she cleared her throat in an aggressive manner.

"So! I suppose like a typical tourist, you want to go down there and take a million pictures?"

The student pondered. "Well… I dunno. Honestly… I don't think a picture could capture how great this looks with your own eyes."

"Wow. You're… not the kind of rabid tourist I was expecting."

"…You know what? I'll take a picture. I'll just do it from here and pose in front of it so I can show everyone in my class." He pulled out his Rotom Phone and set up photo mode. "Umm… I know you'll probably say no, but… any chance I could get you to take it for me?"

Carmine blinked in surprise. "You want… you want me to take it for you? I mean, I guess you've noticed I'm an expert in photography, after all."

The student handed her his phone and set himself up.

"Move a little closer."

He did, and then he initiated a pose like he was flashing his claws.

"…That's the dorky pose you're going to go with? Alright, fine."

Snap!

He took his camera back and marveled at the picture.

"Wow! Thanks a lot!"

Carmine was trying to wipe the look of confusion off her face.

"Sure… thing? Hope it was a good one or whatever. I'm surprised you trusted a stranger like me to not do something funny with the picture. Or mess with your phone."

"I guess I never considered it like that… Umm, but you didn't so… I was r-right to trust you?"

"…Whatever."

"Umm, t-thank you, Carmine."

The Uva student sat on a bench to start uploading and sharing his photo on the net. Carmine watched his annoying eager face… befuddled.

What a weirdo. I treated him like dirt the whole time we were out just to amuse myself, and I literally just told him I made him trek several miles for nothing.

And yet… he's still a polite dork after that and he even trusted me with his phone.

I guess Juliana's not a one-off among these squirts then. Maybe I did learn a little something about her home base.

…That these kids from Paldea are all freaks! They're totally willing to trust strangers, they think everything's amazing, and they somehow always end up looking happy again.

Is there like, no bullying that goes on in that school at all to break their spirits?

…

…

Must be nice.

After reading the signboard at Paradise Barrens, Kieran got so jazzed up talking about the ogre that he asked Juliana if she wanted to see the part of Oni Mountain the ogre supposedly makes his home, and was surprised when she said yes.

She mostly said it because she enjoyed his enthusiasm, and watching him beam happily and actually walk alongside her as they walked through the upward path to the mountain and towards the "Dreaded Den" made her very happy.

The young Kitakamite then surprised her again by asking for another battle once they reached the cave opening at the end of a surprisingly narrow rockway.

Their battle wasn't quite as one-sided as when they had fought at the town square, with Kieran's Yanma actually giving Juliana's Floragato and Mienfoo a run for their money. It was only through Juliana sending out her Wattrel that the great dragonfly Pokémon was finally felled… but just barely.

"Ahh… darn it." Kieran mustered up his courage and readied his last Pokémon. "Okay, Furret! Win this one for me, okay?"

Kieran's last Pokémon came out, and Juliana instantly gasped.

"What is that!? It's so cute! Did it evolve from your Sentret!?"

"Oh, y-yeah!" Kieran found himself stammering again at Juliana's reaction. "I was… letting it battle some Pokémon in the fields and it, it did that. I didn't see it coming."

"Wow! That's so great, Kieran!"

"Heh-heh, y-yeah…"

Furret gave a happy cry.

"Now, Furret! Use Fury Swipes on that… Watt-y thing!"

"Fur! Fur! Fur! Furret!"

Kieran's Furret initiated a fury of swipes at Wattrel that did sufficient damage to the bird, possibly enough to knock it out.

"Oh, no… Wattrel, hang in there…"

"Watt… … … TREL!"

Suddenly, something happened. Juliana's Wattrel became bathed in a glow of bright, white energy.

"Huh?"

Kieran was shocked. "Is it… seriously…!?"

The white energy dissipated, and a larger bird Pokémon stood in Wattel's spot. It immediately chirped full of energy, the bruises it took from Furret having seemingly vanished, and spread its much longer wingspan for everyone to see.

"Whoa… didn't see that one coming either."

Kieran was gobsmacked. "No way! Your Pokémon evolved too? I-I thought I had this!"

Juliana pulled out the Pokédex app on her Rotom Phone to scan her newly-evolved Pokémon, now being deemed "Kilowattrel".

"KILOOOOO!"

"Wow!" said Juliana. "Looks like you weren't the only one graced with good evolution look today, Kieran!" Heh, maybe Nemona's charm does bring some luck after all…

"I… I guess not?" Kieran responded, looking a little deflated now.

Juliana's phone beeped.

"Huh? What's this? Oh…" Her Pokédex app seemed to be notifying her of something. "Kilowattrel learned a new move just by evolving!? Dual Wingbeat, huh? That sounds amazing! Let's do it, Kilowattrel!"

"WATTREEEEEL!"

"Huh? W-wait a minute, we weren't prepared for this…"

But the Frigatebird Pokémon was above listening to the concerns of mere mortals. It struck Furret with one massive strike of wind from its wings, and then readied up another one right after.

Furret couldn't take the consecutive blows, and was quickly knocked out.

"Furrrrret…"

Kieran ran over to his fainted Pokémon.

"We won!" said Juliana.

"Furret…" Kieran's Furret weakly turned its head up to squint at its Trainer. "It's okay. You and I just… weren't strong enough…" he said, bowing his head.

He recalled his Furret, while Juliana eagerly petted her newly-evolved bird.

"You did such a great job out there!"

"I knew it…" Kieran mumbled. "You really are strong, Juliana. How am I ever gonna be able to beat you?"

Juliana turned her attention from Kilowattrel to Kieran with a look of sympathy.

"If the ogre saw that battle, I'm sure right now it'd be thinking 'That kid's got real strength...'"

"Hey… don't sell yourself short, okay?" Juliana gave him a gentle shoulder pat. "You did really great too. Kept us on our toes even better than you did before! At my school, my teachers like to say that everyone's got the makings of a really strong Trainer, and every battle is a chance to grow."

"Huh…" Kieran still looked a bit downtrodden. "I guess… Blueberry Academy has sayings like that too. It's a school that specializes in teachin' the art of Pokémon battling. If I was as strong as you... maybe I could aim to be the best Trainer there."

"Your school sounds awesome," Juliana grinned. "I wonder if I'll ever get to visit it someday."

"Y-yeah. That would be, that would be really cool if you did! We could battle and hang out all the time and… well, yeah." Kieran felt a bit self-conscious now. "Hey uh… let's go have a look at the ogre's den."

They decided to head inside, unaware that there was something watching the two of them from a distance, before it decided to hobble away.

"Watch your head."

The ogre's den was certainly smaller than one would think a rowdy monster would make its home in for hundreds of years.

"See how dark it is in here?" said Kieran.

"And cramped..." Juliana agreed. "Even the floor's all rough and uneven."

Kieran had a sad look on his face gazing around.

"Living all alone in a place like this would get pretty miserable, don't you think?"

"Yeah… I guess so."

Juliana didn't want to tell Kieran what she was thinking, which is that, if the "den" the ferocious ogre is supposed to live in just looks like this, a mere crack in the mountains… Juliana was feeling more skeptical that the monster in the legends truly existed at all.

It did sound like a pretty great bedtime story.

"Poor ogre..." Kieran lamented. "We have plenty of room at our house. I would've totally let it stay with us..."

"Oh yeah?" Juliana responded. She then flashed Kieran a wily look. "Then when can I move in?"

Kieran's face went red like a tomato. He laughed nervously.

"I uhh—I don't think there's enough room for you and the ogre, Juliana. Y-you'd have to sleep on the couch."

Juliana giggled in retort.

Chapter Text

After visiting the ogre's den, Kieran convinced Juliana to meet back at his home so she could attend the Festival of Masks with him and Carmine.

"We live in the northwest corner of the village," Kieran explained. "It's...um...let's see, I could maybe draw a map..."

"Oh, no need!"

"Huh?"

Juliana pulled out her Rotom Phone and had it float between them.

"My Rotom Phone's got a map! See? Just point to where your house is, and it'll register it for me."

"Umm…" The Rotom Phone was a bit close to Juliana's face, so Kieran had to scooch in right next to her, which made his whole body heat up. Especially when Juliana turned to him and smiled. "Y-yeah, I could give that a try…"

He nervously tapped an area on her Kitakami map and then quickly scooched away again. Juliana seemed oblivious to his nervousness.

"Wowzers! It sure is handy having a map that shows you everything right there in your phone... I'm gonna ask if I can get a Rotom Phone someday too!"

"Hey, we need to get there before dark, right?" said Juliana. "How about you and I race to see who gets to your house first?"

"What? A race?" Kieran gulped. "Umm, s-sure!"

"Great!" said Juliana. "Last one there's a rotten Exeggcute!"

She dashed off, which surprised Kieran since she hadn't even said "Go!" or anything.

"Wowzers. She's so cool…" he mumbled to himself.

Then, he saw something gleam from within the ogre's den, which drew his attention.

"…Huh?"

"Grandpa, I'm home!"

By the time Kieran made it back to his home, his grandfather Hideko was out on the front porch… talking to Juliana.

"Kieran!" Hideko greeted. "Welcome home!" Kieran was a bit flummoxed to see Juliana standing right next to his grandfather, nervous to know what they had been chatting about. "I'm very pleased to have finally met your new friend."

"Well, that's great—" Kieran's eyes bugged out. "Wait! Grandpa, w-why are you saying 'finally'!?"

"Well because of how much you were raving about her last night, sport!"

Juliana smiled sheepishly at Kieran, whose head hung down in shame.

"Aww… why'd you have to go and tell her all that?"

"It's my fault," Juliana admitted. "I happened to mention that Carmine had already said something aboutit, so he just… filled me in on the rest. I'm glad my battling skills left that huge an impact on you, though!"

"Awww, man…"

"What took you so long to arrive after your friend anyway?" asked Hideko. "She said you two were havin' a race."

"Oh… Well, um… Right before I left, I thought I saw something shiny like treasure inside the—inside the field that we visited."

He was just barely able to correct himself from saying he and Juliana went to the ogre's den that his grandparents had forbade him from visiting on numerous occasions.

"But… turns out it was just some Berries the ogre—I mean, somebody else was hoarding. Nothing special."

"I see…" Hideko looked up to the sky. "Oh, my. Is it already sundown?"

"Goodness me, I'd nearly forgotten!" Kieran's grandmother Yukito walked over with an empty basket, having just hung up freshly washed clothes onto a clothesline. "The Festival of Masks starts tonight, doesn't it?"

"Yup!" said Kieran. "And guess what? Juliana said she'd come with us!"

Juliana nodded earnestly.

"How splendid!" Yukito clapped. "I'll get out some jinbei for you both so you can go to the festival all gussied up."

Kieran gasped in delight. "Ya hear that, Juliana? We get to dress up in jinbei! Yay!"

"Yay!" Juliana echoed. Not breaking her smile, she asked, "What's uh… what's jinbei?"

"Oh-ho-ho, you'll see!" said Yukito. "And while we're at it, we should do your hair up too! Come along now!"

"There we are! All done!"

Kieran, wearing his jinbei, was sitting at the porch waiting for Juliana to come out. He stood up when the door opened.

"Whoa…"

Juliana stepped out with a happy smile, but that was about the only thing unchanged about her.

She was wearing one of Yukito's specially made festive jinbei, colored in green with red cross-stitches and a red ribbon. Yukito had also given her matching green sandals, and a specialized festival cinch bag.

On top of that, she had even fixed Juliana's hair into a Kitakami-styled front ponytail. Juliana adjusted a few stray hairs hanging over her face as she faced Kieran, looking very pleased.

"So! How do I look?"

"Wowzers! Y-you look amazing!" said Kieran.

"Thanks! I'm surprised at how comfortable it is, light and breezy too compared to my uniform. I feel like I could wear this all the time!"

"You look so great in a jinbei! Better than my sister, even!" A look of fear came upon his face. "P-please don't tell her I said that."

"I don't know about that, but it suits you fine alright! Just like I knew it would!" said Yukito.

"Goodness, it's like I've gained another granddaughter!" Hideko chortled.

"Gosh, you're both so nice…" Juliana replied, blushing with her hands to her face.

Just then, she heard the front door open behind her.

"Hey Gran, do you know where my—"

"HAK!" shouted Kieran.

Then a feminine gasp.

"GAH! What are YOU doing here!?"

Carmine was dressed in a jinbei of her own, but it was blue to Juliana's green and Kieran's white.

Juliana was lost for words.

I look better than Carmine…? Are you sure about that, Kieran? She… she looks amazing!

Carmine had her hands over her mouth in shock.

"Is that… are you wearing one of my grandma's jinbei!?"

Kieran stepped up to explain. "Uhhh! Juliana said that she'd… she'd go to the Festival of Masks with me!"

"Y-yeah!" Juliana agreed.

"Oh really? Is that so…?"

Carmine's eyes fixated on Juliana, doing another one of her menacing full-body scans. Juliana gulped.

Just WHAT is going on here? Invading our homeland and pilfering our Pokémon was one thing, now you're trying to weasel your way INTO MY FAMILY!?

It was a mistake not pairing myself with you so I could keep you on a leash! I should've put a stop to this from the start!

"So." Carmine addressed Juliana curtly. "You're going to chaperone my little brother around, and you successfully charmed my sweet old grandmother into lending you one of our ratty old jinbei. You must think you're real hot stuff, huh?"

"I think I'm something special alright."

Juliana couldn't explain why, but despite her nervousness, she felt a strange sense of confidence rushing through her at the sight of Carmine… and decided to do something flashy. So she did a quick flick of her ponytail and put her hands on her hips.

"What do you think, Carmine? I rock the Kitakami style pretty great, don't I?"

"So cool…" Kieran whispered.

"GRRK!" Carmine clearly wasn't expecting a move like this, and she quickly turned away.

What am I supposed to say? My grandparents are standing right there, so I can't be mean! But, worse than that… she, doesn't even look that terrible! And is she trying to flirt with me or something!?

She turned around again. "You look… fine. I guess you Paldean types don't look quite as square when you're wearing something fashionable for a change."

Juliana grinned in delight. That must be Carmine's way of a compliment. I'll take it!

"…You still need to do something about that dopey grin of yours." To her annoyance, this only made Juliana's smile go wider.

"What's it matter to you anyway!?" Kieran snapped. "What are YOU doing back here!?"

"Oh, right." Then she just flipped her hair and walked past Kieran like it was nothing. "Gran, I can't find my mask anywhere."

"Oh, the masks? They should be in the shed, sweetie. I put them there after last year's festival."

"Masks?" Juliana turned to Kieran.

"Oh yeah! The masks! They're a big part of the festival!" Kieran exclaimed. "Everyone walks around wearing masks over their faces to honor the… well, to honor the Loyal Three." He added quietly, "…But I do it for the ogre."

"It shouldn't be locked, so you three can go have a rummage and see what you find," Hideko chimed in.

Carmine nodded… and then took off.

"ALL RIGHT! To the shed! First one there wins!"

"Wait—SIS! You're such a cheater!" Kieran called out as he chased her.

Their grandparents giggled as Hideko faced Juliana. "Please forgive those two, Juliana. They can be a bit.. rambunctious."

"I bet home life must be fun," Juliana chuckled.

"It's funny," said Yukito. "The whole time they've been away at school, my sweetie pie and I talked constantly about how much we missed them…"

"…and now I'm starting to miss when the house was a lot quieter," Hideko joked.

"RRRGHHH! But there's gotta be another one!"

Juliana walked into the family's open shed, which was full of boxes upon boxes of old junk, funny-looking knick-knacks, and bags of clothing… as well as a very frantic teenage girl furiously digging through a pile of stuff in a huge box while her young brother just stood there, shaking his head.

Juliana tried to approach them quietly, but she accidentally tripped slightly on a pole that was sticking out, and hopped a bit. This alerted Kieran.

"Sis. Sis! Juliana's here."

"What!?"

This caused Carmine to slip onto her knees, falling headfirst into the pile.

Juliana ran up. "Are you okay!?"

She grabbed Carmine's hand to help her back, but Carmine gasped and retracted it, standing herself up.

"Yeah, I'm fine, don't touch me." Carmine threw a patterned festival sheet off of herself, revealing her red exasperated face to Juliana. "Tch! Just rolling up like you own the place."

She kicked the debris off from her feet and dusted her jinbei with her hands.

"Well, it looks like there's only two masks in here."

Juliana's face fell. "…Really?"

"Y-yeah," said Kieran. "I thought we had more. But… if we do, they must be buried too well in."

Carmine looked around and shrugged. "Guess you'll just have to do without a mask, eh? First come, first served, and all that!"

"Oh… that's fine," said Juliana, in a voice that didn't sound so chipper.

Carmine was giving Juliana a look that seemed… almost troubled. But this went away as soon as she clapped her hands together.

"C'mon now, don't look so glum! How about instead of a mask, I give you a battle in style?"

"In… style?"

"Yeah! Festival style!"

"Ugh." Kieran facepalmed.

"I… umm… well, okay."

"Great! Let's get out of this musty old shed and into position!"

Maybe a battle will lift your spirits up… and give me more great insight into how you think. A win for us both! Carmine smiled mischievously. A double win if I can finally score a win and redeem myself!

Carmine was able to put up a better fight against Juliana this time around, thanks to a secret powerful technique… listening to her brother's ramblings for once, and writing down all the Pokémon he'd mentioned Juliana used and caught during their little expedition through Kitakami.

So she was prepared against Floragato, whom her Swadloon easily defeated and even buffed a win against Mienfoo.

"Mien… foo…" Mienfoo tried to move its feet out from the Sticky Web that had entrapped it as soon as it switched in, but was still moving very sluggishly.

"C'mon, Mienfoo, you can do it!" Juliana begged. "Leap out of those sticky webs and use Bounce! You can do it!"

"Mien…"

But Carmine flashed her evil grin.

"My speedy Swadloon can move like lightning now thanks to all its Trailblazing!" she boasted. "She'll run circles around that silly Mienfoo before it can lift a single foot! Show them what we mean! A swift old Razor Leaf. No mercy."

"Swadlooooon!"

Carmine's Swadloon fired a sharp storm of leaves at Mienfoo that cut through its defenses. Mienfoo, having already taken some fair hits from Swadloon's Trailblaze, couldn't take the onslaught and screamed before fainting.

"It's okay, Mienfoo. You did your best…"

"And you did even better," said Carmine, petting her Swadloon, who responded joyfully.

Swadloon made quirk work of Wooper too, taking advantage of Juliana not knowing that a Johtonian Wooper was still Ground-type in addition to Water, until Cutiefly disposed of it.

But even with a Type advantage, Cutiefly fell to the even speedier wiles of Morpeko, leaving the Jangmo-o Juliana caught in Paradise Barrens in an even matchup with Mightyena. Until…

"Mightyena, use Take Down!" Carmine shouted in desperation, fearful of Jangmo-o potentially having Fighting-type moves at its disposal.

Mightyena complied and rushed at the Scaly Pokémon, damaging it quite a lot.

"Jaa-aang…"

But this took a mighty toll on Mightyena, who fainted from the recoil damage.

"Wowzers!"

Carmine growled. "I shouldn't have made a rookie mistake like that. You didn't even teach your Jangmo-o any Fighting moves, did you?"

Juliana's eyed widened. "It can learn Fighting moves!?"

"Grrr. This is why I hate outsiders…"

Carmine was down to her last Pokémon, her ace Poltchageist.

"I'm gonna crush you and go to the festival feeling like a WINNER!"

Jangmo-o went for a Dragon Tail to do some decent damage, but then Poltchageist seized upon Jangmo-o's weakened state to take it out with a simple Mega Drain, taking the little dragon out and restoring Poltchageist's health in the process.

"Looks like I'm down to my last Pokémon too." Juliana tried to do an evil smile of her own. "But I've got a big surprise for you."

Carmine rolled her eyes, knowing full well what was coming out.

"Go, Kilowattrel!"

Kilowattrel screeched mightily.

"Wow. That's a Kilowattrel?" said Carmine in a disingenuous tone. "How unexpected!"

"Hee-hee. I guess Kieran spilled the beans on that one, huh?"

"What? But I—Aww, man," Kieran moaned.

"You see? It doesn't matter how much Kiki cheers for you, deep down he's always going to be on my side, giving me the best tips."

"Sis, you know I didn't do that on purpose…"

"I guess even with my inner knowledge, we both know how this is going to turn out. You know what'd be really cool, though?" said Carmine, a devious look in her eyes.

"What's that?"

"You should totally Terastallize that Kilowattrel for a really cool finale!"

"Terastallize!?" Juliana repeated in surprise.

"Sis, what are you on about?" said Kieran. "How do you even figure Juliana knows about Terastallizing?"

"Because she's from Paldea and that's where all that Tera stuff comes from, pinhead!" Carmine seethed. "Hee-hee, I've done my research on your little school. And it turns out, they hand Tera Orbs to their students, but only to ones deemed an exceptional enough battler to have one. So go on, Miss Perfect. Show us your Tera Orb! You're good enough to have one, aren't you?"

"Sis, don't…" Kieran pleaded.

"I mean…" Juliana reached into her pocket and pulled out her translucent orb filled with glowing energy. "I definitely have one. My friend Nemona arranged it for me. I'm just… shocked because I didn't know you guys knew about Terastallizing."

Carmine's eye twitched. Darn it. That kid said Juliana's only been a student for a couple months, but of course she got an Orb through "special" means. What isn't so special about her at this point?

"Of course. Here's a little surprise for you; we can Terstallize our Pokémon not just here, but at Blueberry Academy too!"

Juliana was amazed. "No way! Does that mean you can both Terastallize your Pokémon too!?"

Kieran looked to the side in embarrassment.

"Ha ha! No. No, we can't," Carmine answered, annoyed. "They don't have enough Tera Orbs to hand them out like candy like your school apparently does, so we have to wait on a mailing list. But mine should be coming any day now!"

"Huh?" Kieran was confused. "What list? I thought you had to make it above a certain rank in the BB League to get o—"

"SHUT IT, Kiki!" Carmine seethed.

Juliana snickered, which caused Carmine's snarling face to transfer from Kireran to hers. This only made her fight the urge to burst out laughing.

"Well, okay… If just wanted to see what it looks like, all you had to do was ask," she joked.

Carmine cracked a bit of a smile. So, you do have spice on you after all…

Juliana took her Tera Orb and held it high in the air. It filled with a lot of wonderous Tera energy, and as soon as it was bursting with light, she tossed it over Kilowattrel's head.

A cluster of crystals formed around the Frigatebird Pokémon, enveloping it in a strange energy, until the crystals scattered. And Kilowattrel emerged, fully charged and decorated in a blue crystalline coat over its body, while a gleaming jewel in the shape of multicolored balloons hung over the top of its head.

Kilowattrel screeched, and blue specks of energy and wind scattered the arena.

"Okay… So you called my bluff and it's a Flying Tera Type. Big deal."

"And… Dual Wingbeat!"

"SCREEEECH!"

One glorious sparkle explosion strike at Poltchageist… and then another.

"…And your stupid bird thing is faster too. Luck really is on your side, isn't it?"

Poltchageist dropped its matcha stick and fell into its own matcha cup like a melting goo, thoroughly defeated.

"Whoaaaaaa!" said Kieran.

"Grrr! You were supposed to be enamored and distracted by my festival style!" Carmine snarled as she reluctantly recalled her Poltchageist.

"You're right," said Juliana. "That was a very… stylish battle. You were even tougher than last time!"

"Sure, just keep rubbing it in." Carmine rolled her eyes. "Better than some lame old mask, right?"

She finally saw Juliana's prevalent Cheshire grin deflate again.

"Oh well!" Carmine said nonchalantly. "It's not like beating me was gonna make another one magically appear. Looks like you'll have to make do with just your face! Good thing it isn't too ugly!" she commented, gently ruffling the shorter girl's hair.

"Sis, come on… Now you're just being mean," Kieran protested.

Juliana readjusted her hair and stubbornly sighed.

"No, no, it's fine, Kieran," said Juliana. "I don't mind at all!"

"Yeah, but…" Kieran was surprised. "B-but you seemed really interested in the masks… Now you're not even sad about it?"

Inside… she was actually very forlorn.

Juliana had gotten really excited about this whole notion of dressing up in masks, especially because Kieran had made it sound like it was such a big deal that she figured almost everyone at the festival would be wearing one.

And I hate feeling left out…

But Juliana also realized she didn't want to make a worrywart out of Kieran, who seemed like he was pretty anxious already, so she swallowed her hurt feelings and put on her best happy face instead.

"Yeah, I'm totally cool. I'll just use my adorable smile instead!" She pointed to her toothy grin with both her fingertips.

Carmine scoffed in annoyance.

"I'm trying to make you feel bad, you weirdo. At least play along so I can feel better after that loss."

"Heh-heh. You'll have to beat me in battle if you ever want to see me frown!"

"I—You—WHATEVER! Battle's over. Now, let me go get MY mask…" she bragged, running back to the shed.

Kieran looked exasperatedly at her sister, then at Juliana. He clearly wanted to say something, but… instead he just bottled it up and followed Carmine.

Juliana let herself decompress once they were both off.

I never thought smiling so much would hurt my mouth.

She gazed up at the mountains to let her thoughts roam free.

Why am I letting myself feel this sad? It's not right. This is supposed to be a fun trip, I should be staying positive abou—What the?

Staring hard enough, she realized she could see what looked like a pair of beady yellow eyes staring at her from up on a cliff.

Once their eyes had locked with each other's, Juliana thought she heard a cry like "…Pon!" and the eyes disappeared into the darkness.

That mountain's sure got a lot of spooky things going on…

"How's that?" she heard from behind her.

Carmine and Kieran had both appeared again. Carmine had a funny-looking blue mask on the side of her hairband, while Kieran's face was half covered with a mask of a gruesome looking green face.

"Look good, don't I?" Carmine beamed.

"Those are… you masks? Wow…"

Juliana's voice trailed off more than she meant it. Kieran seemed to notice, and instantly looked guilty. His shaky hands grabbed his mask off his head.

"I-it's okay, Juliana. I thought about it, and I decided… you can just wear my mask."

"Huh?" Juliana looked at the mask in awe and started to reach for it. "Kieran, I—"

"What!? NO!" Carmine suddenly snapped. "I already said it's first come, first served!"

Much to both Juliana's and Kieran's shock, she swiped the mask from Kieran's hands.

"And besides, that's YOUR ogre mask! You've always loved that mask best!"

"Yeah, but—" He was interrupted by Carmine forcefully tying the mask back over his head.

"No buts about it! Juliana can just get her own mask at the festival! She's fine!"

Juliana was dumbstruck. "Wait… they sell masks at the festival? I didn't—" Juliana's head sunk into her hands. "I wish I'd known that before. I'm sorry. I feel so stupid now, feeling so sad about it…"

Carmine's whole expression changed.

Kieran huffed. "You should've been honest and said you were sad from the start! Then maybe my sis wouldn't have such a jerk—"

"What did you just say about me!?" Carmine seethed. "I'm going to take that mask and—"

"Wait! Wait! Stop!" Both siblings were startled to hear Juliana raise her voice. Sternly, she walked up to them, grabbed both their hands, and forced them to connect. "I said I was sorry. Please don't fight because of me, okay? Maybe I really should've stayed quiet…"

Now Carmine was really taken aback. How'd you flip this around to me feeling bad so masterfully? "I— I—"

"I'm sorry too, Carmine," Kieran sheepishly admitted. "I didn't mean what I said."

…

Carmine felt both sets of eyes staring at her now like puppy Poochyena eyes.

…

"…Don't—don't let it happen again, okay? I'm gonna… go on ahead to the festival now."

Before either of them could say anything else, Carmine dashed down the road into town, leaving them in the dust.

Juliana just kind of stood there with her mouth agape. Kieran clenched his fist in anger, but decided to calm himself down and approached her.

"I'm sorry, Juliana." He put a hand on her shoulder. "I know my sis seems kinda harsh, b-but she's really not all that bad…"

Juliana smirked and put her hand on his, which made his hand and his face get warmer. She turned around fully to face him with a sympathetic frown.

"You keep saying that, Kieran."

"It's true though! Really! Actually, she was tearing the shed apart, tryin' to find a third mask for you before you got there… She seemed really desperate for it, too. But—but don't tell her I told you that."

Juliana's eyes lit up. "Really? … Even though, even though she put on a whole show about not wanting me to have one?"

Kieran nodded. Juliana gazed to the ground thoughtfully.

"Huh. I guess… I guess there's a part of her that does care. She's got a really funny way of showing it, though."

Kieran shook his head. "She's always been this way… I don't really get it. Is it me, or does it feel like as people get older, they don't say what they mean anymore? Always hidin' their true feelings."

"Well, I don't know about that… Your sister's got a heck of a temper though, I'll tell you that much."

Kieran giggled. "Yeah… I guess the more she yells at you, it's her way of showin' she cares. I think... the fact that she does all that instead of just ignorin' you, I think maybe that means she does care about you. She just doesn't wanna say it."

"…Hmm."

"I always say what I mean though! There's nothing good about hidin' things, unless… you're just not a good person. So…" He smiled wildly. "I'm really glad to call you my friend, Juliana."

Juliana beamed. "Thanks, Kieran. I'm glad you're my friend too. And from now on, I won't hide anything from my friend."

He smiled even bigger. Juliana realized she was still holding onto her Tera Orb.

"I gotta go to the Pokémon Center before I can head out to the festival. You want me to wait up for you?"

"Nah, you can go on ahead. I've still gotta finish gettin' ready first. Grandpa said he's gonna give me money for candy apples!"

A red glove peered from the wall of a building. Then a grouchy face followed it.

Carmine kept silent, watching from behind the house closest to the center of Mossui Town, her eyes fixed to the Pokémon Center in front of the community center. Or more specifically, who was at said Center.

Juliana had a smile on her face again as she showed her used-up Tera Orb to the lady at the Pokémon Center.

She was all down and upset a minute ago and now she's her dumb perky self again. Is she playing mind games with my emotions or something? I feel so dumb that I almost caved and let her have my mask… What was I thinking?

"So yeah, I don't know if… They do it all the time for us in Paldea, but…"

The Pokémon Center lady, one hand still holding the phone she was on before Juliana came up, motioned for Juliana to hand her the Orb. She glanced at it for a few seconds.

"Hmmm. Well, they do train us on how to these things since Kitakami has the… the whatever it is that makes Pokémon do that thing, but I'll be honest. Most people around here don't have one, so I'm a bit rusty on what to do with it."

Juliana grimaced. "I'm so sorry. I didn't want to inconvenience you."

"Nah, don't worry about it kid, it's my job," she waved off. "I know this machine can definitely do that." She hunched down below the desk. "I just gotta figure out where I stashed the manual."

Carmine, able to hear the situation, looked conflicted.

"Hmph. Our school has the self-serve machines that they teach us to use. I bet I could probably help her figure out how to—"

Then she shook her head and slapped it with her hands a few times.

No, no, Carmine! What on earth are you doing? No going soft on the enemy. What's wrong with you?

She huffed out loud to herself.

…

"Sis, what are you doing?"

"GAH!"

Carmine covered her mouth, and frantically looked back. Juliana seemed to perk up and look her way, so she quickly jerked away completely to the side of the house.

Kieran was there next to her.

"Geez, Kiki!" She scolded Kieran quietly. "What's wrong with you, sneaking up on me like that? You'd be such a terrible spy! You know nothing about being incognito!"

Kieran shook his head. "You and Amarys have gotta stop watching those spy movies together."

"What's your problem, anyway? Can't see you I'm busy?"

"I just…" He paused for a second, feeling nervous about confronting his sister. "I just—I just want to know why you're like this."

"Like what? Smart? Pretty? Incredibly talented?"

"No." He paused again. "Sis… I think Juliana thinks that you hate her."

Carmine paused for a bit. "…So?"

"What do you mean 'so'!?"

"How is it my fault what that girl thinks? I don't care how anyone feels about me, that's their problem."

"Yeah, but…" Kieran sighed. "You always do this."

"Do what?"

Kieran put his hands in his pocket and looked to the side.

"It feels like… anytime somebody tries to be nice to you, you just… you become a lot meaner and try to make them go away."

"I do NOT!" she seethed.

Kieran looked at her crossly. "What do you have against making new friends?"

"I'm very good at making friends, you pipsqueak! I've got more friends at school than you do, so you're hardly one to talk!"

Kieran looked hurt for a second, but tried to look stern again. "…See? This is what I'm talkin' about. You only know how to be angry."

"Huh!" Carmine crossed her arms. "I think I know a lot more about dealing with people than you do. You've only known that girl for a day and you were about to let her have one of your most prized possessions."

"Yeah, but—"

"Why do you have to be such a doormat all the time, Kiki? You really wanna know why I get so bossy around outsiders like her? It's to protect you, silly."

Kieran shook his head defiantly. "That's not true!"

"Yeah it is, and you know it! There are some real bad people out there in the world who would take advantage of your kindness. Not everyone's all nice and friendly like in your little fantasy world, where the ogre was the good guy and stuff."

Kieran pouted with a sour face.

"I'm not always going to be around to protect you, Kiki. You're going to get yourself hurt one of these days unless you wisen up."

He looked up at her and scowled. "I don't need your protection all the time, sis. I can look out for myself too."

Carmine stomped her foot. "Ugh, whatever! All this arguing has me hungry! If you or your sparkly new best friend need me, I'll be at Kitakami Hall!"

Carmine dashed away from her hiding spot and sprinted down the road through town stubbornly.

As she ran past the Pokémon Center, she caught Juliana's eye. Juliana looked at her, and grinned widely.

Why is her dang smile so irritating!?

Carmine turned her nose up and continued running. She didn't look behind her to see that Juliana's smile dropped when she did so.

Chapter Text

"And these are the ones I've taken in Alola, during one of their Maintine Surfing contests. I actually remember this trip really fondly. Not only was it a nice holiday for me, but it was also my first time experimenting with waterproof action cams."

Jacq sifted through the photos in the binder. "These are really nice, Perrin! Really captures the scene. It almost makes me want to hop on one of those Mantine!"

"Right!? That's the kind of immersion I was hoping to capture!"

"Rowww!" her Growlithe barked.

Perrin glanced up and saw someone approaching them. "Oh. Hey look. It's that kid I met yesterday."

"Hmm?" Jacq looked up and gasped. "Hey, Juliana! Over here!"

Juliana wasn't surprised to see her homeroom and biology teacher Jacq still set up at the same picnic table where she had met him yesterday, off the path in Reveler's Road.

She was however surprised to see her teacher talking to Perrin, the photographer who she had chatted briefly with yesterday as well, leaning against the tree next to the table with one of her funny-looking Growlithe accompanying her.

"Heeeeey, kiddo!" she called out to Juliana. "Looking swell with that get-up! So you're the Juliana my pal's been talking about, huh? What are the odds?"

"Yeah. It's… Perrin, right?"

"Well, how marvelous!" said Jacq. "I had no idea you two had met each other here in Kitakami! Small world indeed!"

"How do you two know each other?" Juliana asked.

"I took on freelance assignments for Mr. Jacq here back in the day when he was compiling that Pokédex of his," Perrin explained.

"Perrin's photography work was very instrumental in helping me put together the Paldean Pokédex with such wonderful visual aids that capture every Pokémon at their core essence. Oh! Speaking of Pokédexes, how's your Kitakami one coming along, Juliana? And how's the Egg I left you?"

"Umm, Egg hasn't hatched yet," Juliana noted. "…You're still not going to tell me what it is until it hatches, are you?"

"That is the fun of a surprise, after all!"

"Worth a shot. Well, in terms of my Pokédex… here."

Juliana showed Jacq her Pokédex app on her Rotom Phone… and Jacq flew back so hard his hexagonal glasses nearly flew off his face.

"You're already caught… how many Pokémon in Kitakami!? After just two days of being here? Juliana, I'm lost for words! That's—that's amazing!"

Juliana stood sheepishly and blushed.

"She's being quite the overachiever, huh?" said Pieran. "Might be my fault, to be honest. I… kind of regaled her with tales of that Bloodmoon Beast I was telling you about, and told her I might let her join in if she had 150 species in Kitakami registered."

"Well, any motivation is good motivation!" Jacq chuckled.

Perrin took a look at her camera and stood up. "I should probably get going and have these photos developed. Great catching up with you, Jacq. And wonderful meeting you for real, Juliana!"

"Bye!" Juliana waved.

"Take care of yourself!" Jacq called.

Now that they were alone, Juliana took a seat across from Jacq.

"You do look great in that jinbei!" Jacq complimented. "It's wonderful to see you taking part in Kitakami's culture! So apart from catching lots of Pokémon and trying on the local apparel, how else are you holding up during your visit to Kitakami?"

"Oh… pretty well, I think!" Juliana nodded.

"Yeah? Seen any cool sights so far? Made some new friends?"

"Actually…" Juliana scratched her head awkwardly. "I met this pair of siblings, they're both from Blueberry Academy!"

Jacq grinned. "Briar will be glad to hear you kids are mingling with each other."

"Mm-hm. But umm…" Juliana looked a bit glum. "I've been having… some difficulties."

"What's wrong?" asked Jacq.

"Well, so there's this boy, Kieran. He's a year younger than me. He's super chill and super friendly, and we've had fun battling each other."

"That's fantastic!"

"And then… there's his sister. Carmine. She's… she's…" Juliana gazed at her own hands as she tried to find the words to describe her. "She's really cool, and pretty, and… and a great battler and… and so confident and cool. I've—I've been bonding with Kieran really well, but, but…"

"…But you're having trouble connecting with this Carmine girl," Jacq sympathized.

Juliana crossed her arms and slumped. "She's so… complicated. Like, she's very cheerful and determined one minute. And then the next, she's hurling insults, trying to act all mad, and she does this thing with her hands that…" She imitated Carmine's seething motions. "It's a little weird, but it's, also kind of adorable."

Jacq looked troubled. "She's not… mean to you or the other students, is she? It kind of, sounds like you're describing those troublemaker kids that the lead caretaker mentioned to me."

Juliana shook her head indignantly.

"I don't think they're troublemakers at all. I've spent time with them for two days now and… I think the adults of this town misjudge them. They both care about each other, and love Pokémon, and… and I don't think they go out of their way to cause trouble. They're just… very excitable."

Jacq nodded thoughtfully. "I do know Mossui is a pretty old and sleepy town. There's more elders here now than younger folks, and… I guess sometimes kids know themselves and each other better than us cranky adults do!"

She sighed sadly. "I just… I just wish I could figure out how to break through Carmine's shell. I've been trying to match her level of energy, and—and I keep feeling like I'm making progress. But then, just as she starts acting friendlier, it's like… it's like the more I try to reach for her, the more she pulls away. Just, completely shuts herself off. Not like Kieran, who eventually opened himself up after I was patient with him. But… but by being friends with Kieran, it almost seems like I'm causing Carmine to become angry towards him! It'd be so much easier to just be friends with both of them! But… I just, I don't know what to do."

Juliana's usual happy demeanor had fallen. As she sat across from her teacher, she looked glum and despondent, staring down at the polka-dot tablecloth. Jacq was crestfallen to see his student like this, having been used to the cheerful smile she always brought to his classes back at Uva.

"Gosh… that does sound like a pickle, Juliana," he agreed. "Making friends can be surprisingly hard sometimes, especially trying to connect with people with different life experiences. I… I wish I had some advice to offer you. Truth be told, I've always been a lot better at solving Pokémon problems than people ones. That's… really the sort of thing someone like Miriam would be better equipped to handle than me."

"Mm." Juliana lifted her head up a bit. "I guess I wasn't, so much looking for advice. Just… kind of needed someone to vent all this too, I guess."

"Well… I'll sit here and listen for as long as you need, okay?"

Juliana cracked a bit of a smile at Jacq, which pleased him. In his experiences with students, Jacq had often found that just being there for a student facing difficulties went a long way, at the very least in helping them realize they're not alone in their problems.

He tried to pick his brain for something, anything he could think of to relate to Juliana's problem. Then, he had a thought.

"Oh! Well here's something to think about that, maybe could help you." Juliana perked up to listen to what Jacq had to say. "You know how Pokémon put up walls in the middle of battle, right? Using moves like Light Screen, or Reflect?"

"Sure."

"Well… if you think about it, people put up walls just like Pokémon do, they try to protect themselves against anything that could be, 'super effective', if you will!" he snickered. "Like your friend, Carmine for instance. It sounds like when she's feeling vulnerable, she tries to put up more walls around herself, the way a Pokémon does."

"Okay…?" Juliana nodded along, even though she wasn't quite sure whether this analogy made sense.

"So, in that sense, it's really just about finding the right thing that works like a swift Brick Break!" He did a faux chop motion on the table to illustrate, which made him wince and shake his hand a bit.

"Brick Break?" Juliana repeated, puzzled.

"Yeah! Did you know that in battle, Brick Break is a really good move at crushing a Pokémon's psychic walls like when they use Light Screen?"

Juliana's eyes lit up. "No I didn't!"

"Heh-heh, yeah. It's uh… it's something I learned watching one of Dendra's advanced battle classes. Anyway, the point is, if you feel like someone's trying to put up a barrier between you and themselves… try figuring out what's something you can say or do that will cut through that barrier. And make them feel more relaxed, at east. Like they can be themselves around you. Does that… make enough sense to you?"

"You know… in a weird way, it kinda does," Juliana answered, her face contemplative. "So, I just gotta figure out what will make Carmine want to open up more. I need to find…" She did a swift chopping motion in the air. "…the right Brick Break for myself!"

She and Jacq both laughed.

"Y'know… I actually do a feel bit better now. In fact I—Oh, wowww!"

Juliana's thoughts were interrupted by a sudden and impressive show of lights. Fireworks went off in the night sky of Kitakami, dazzling in images of red, green, blue, and white.

"Sure is quite a sight! Those fireworks mean the Festival of Masks has just started over in Kitakami Hall. Were you planning to attend, Juliana?"

"Oh! Yeah I was, actually! I need to get going, I agreed to meet up with Kieran there!" Juliana quickly gathered up the bag she had set down and fit her sandals back on to begin running. "Thanks for everything, Jacq! This really helped me a lot!"

"I'm glad to hear it! Always ready to lend an ear to your problems!"

Jacq waved as Juliana began to run off.

"OH! Hey, Juliana!"

"Yeah?" Juliana whipped her head back to him.

"You know… you're a real great kid. I bet that if you put your heart into it, that you could find a way to make friends with anybody."

Juliana smiled sweetly and blushed.

"Thanks, Mr. Jacq."

The fireworks in the sky signaled the official start of Kitakami's Festival of Masks. The people of this land have traditionally held this event annually as a celebration of their culture and the legends passed down of the Loyal Three and their heroic plights.

Since then however, the festival has changed. The attractions have grown more plentiful and colorful, and Kitakami Hall decorates itself much more vibrantly now. The fireworks were a brand new addition this year, with Nao apparently stoking talks among the elders to hold the festival a few more times each year instead of just once.

This was a way to better ensure Kitakami hold onto their traditions and be an exciting place for everyone to visit, he insisted, and absolutely not a ploy to rope in more tourists and their money to the region.

Whatever the agendas were behind sprucing up the festival, the people attending the Festival of Masks couldn't be any more thrilled to visit the bright and colorful grounds to eat candy apples and delicious fried foods, walk around with their masks on like it was a masquerade ball, and earn sweet mochi by partaking in the exciting Ogre Oustin' game.

The Festival of Masks attracted a lot of visitors of all shapes and sizes, Pokémon and people alike.

Down the steps from Oni Mountain, a small being clad in a green cloak strode jauntily towards the festival grounds, wearing a teal and green mask with sparkling crystal shapes on it.

It knocked its small feet together, with green leaves between its toes that made them look like fancy sandals, in some sort of cautious excitement.

Juliana had just barely made it past the archway at the top of the stairs into town when she found herself immediately accosted.

"There you are!"

To her surprise, Carmine spotted her from within the crowd and dashed over to her.

"And just where have you been!?" she seethed. "Out there stealing—I mean catching more Pokémon for your precious little collection?"

Juliana didn't know if Carmine was really needling her, or if this was a mask for her being worried about what had happened to her. But she decided to focus on what Jacq had told her.

Find a way to break her walls down…

Juliana went for a sassy approach and flicked the hairs in her ponytail.

"Aww, what's wrong, Carmine? Were you worried about me?" Juliana asked with a pestering smile.

Carmine rolled her eyes in disgust. "Ugh, as if! I couldn't care less about what you do on your own, but you made a promise to Kiki!"

She gestured to where Kieran was standing a little ways behind her. Juliana waved to him. Kieran started to wave back, but Carmine thrust out her left arm to shield him from Juliana's eyesight.

"Hey, don't look at him, look at me! He was expecting you to show up here and have fun with him during the opening ceremony, but you left him high and dry! You were supposed to protect my little brother and instead you had him all scared and confused!"

Kieran hopped up and tried to lower Carmine's arm.

"Sis, why are you wording it like that? I was not scared! I literally just started asking where Juliana was. I thought something might've happened to her or she got lost. But…" he sighed and put his head down. "…I don't need anyone protecting me, okay!?"

He forcefully shoved Carmine's hand down, earning a nasty glare from her. But he ignored it to address Juliana.

"Juliana don't let her get to you. She was actually panickin' about where you went much more than I was."

"YOU—don't try to deflect!" Carmine snarled. "I'm getting real sick of you always taking her side over your big sister's!"

Juliana giggled, feeling like their sibling banter had gotten back to being fun again. She knew by this point Carmine was going to snap even more hearing her chortle, so when Carmine did even cast an angry stare, she just kept her smile up.

Carmine shook her fist and sneered.

I don't like how bold you're getting, kid.

Kieran, sensing some tension, cleared his throat.

"A-anyway, today's just the first day of the festival. It'll keep going for a while…"

He stepped to the side to let Juliana see the festival for herself. Juliana stood in awe at the sight of so many colorful stalls, so many people walking around in different masks, and the smells of sweet, syrupy treats and steamy fried snacks. It was like being at a carnival.

"Wow…"

"I bet you don't have any festivals this big over in Paldea or whatever, right?" Carmine boasted.

"We sure don't!" Juliana laughed. "My mom's taken me to some small carnivals when I was little, but nothing like this."

"Heh... knew it! See, Kitakami's just as good as any of your big, shiny cities."

"It's okay Juliana, just ignore her…"

Juliana grinned at him. "Thanks Kieran, but I can take the heat just fine."

"See? You and I might get along after all!" said Carmine. Juliana beamed in response. "…Never mind. You still smile too much."

"Ugh. Sis, aren't ya gonna do the thing? You promised!" Kieran whined.

"What? The picture thing? I only said that to get you to stop yapping so much."

"Picture, huh? What's that about?"

Carmine groaned. "Kiki wants me to take a photo of you two on your phone to commemorate this occasion or… whatever."

"That sounds fun! Let's do it!"

"Yay!" said Kieran.

"I was afraid you'd say that." Carmine sighed. "Fine, fine."

Juliana eagerly handed her Rotom Phone to Carmine.

Another Paldean trusting a stranger way too much with their phone…

"Get into position, you two."

Kieran just stood where he already was, while Juliana ran over and put her arm around his shoulder, making a V-pose. Kieran put on his best smile, trying not to look nervous.

"Come on Kiki, this was your idea, at least try not to look like she's holding you against your will," Carmine teased.

As they posed waiting for Carmine to snap, the gears in Juliana's head turned, and she had an idea.

"Hey, Carmine!"

"Hmm?"

"Why don't you get in the picture with us?"

"Huh!?" both siblings said at once.

"Y-you want Carmine to be in the picture?"

"What a dumb request. Who's going to hold the camera if I'm there with you, genius?"

"We just use this Roto-Stick thingy the caretaker gave us!" Juliana answered, fishing the extending Roto-Stick out from her bag.

"I forgot Nao-san gave you one of those stupid… err, quirky looking things."

"Come on, Carmine!" Juliana urged. "You talk so much about your amazing beauty, right?"

Urk!

"Surely you'd take any opportunity to capture it on film."

Kieran gave Juliana a weird look. He wasn't the only one surprised at this side of her.

What's with you? You're definitely acting different from before. Now I think you're definitely flirting with me.

"Well, alright then. I guess you two could use someone to show you how not to smile like a pair of Aipom. Gimme that Roto-Stick."

Juliana grinned with delight as Carmine scooched in between the two of them. Carmine extended the Roto-Stick and attached it to Juliana's phone.

"C'mon, you two. Scooch in closer!"

"Ow! You're steppin' on my toe, sis!"

Juliana resumed her pose, while Carmine scooched between the two of them smiling. Kieran was next to them, still trying to smile non-awkwardly but not really pulling it off. Carmine had a smirk like she was up to something.

"Alright, ready? Now, everyone say… PINEAPPLES!"

"What!?" Kieran burst out laughing, which made Juliana chuckle too. "Pineapples!? Sis—"

-SNAP!-

They all took a look at the photo on Juliana's phone. Surprisingly, it came out with all three of them looking very naturally happy. Juliana was doing with a V-pose with a wide-mouthed smile, Carmine was giving the camera a confident wink… and Kieran was glancing in Juliana's direction, but with an absolutely beaming smile on his face.

"Now that's what I call a nice festival vibe!" said Carmine.

"This came out great!" Juliana agreed.

"Wowzers…" said Kieran, astonished. "We all look so cool."

"It's great to see you finally look so natural in a photo, isn't it?" Carmine explained to Juliana, "Kiki's always had a problem with not being able to make a good face on camera. You probably noticed that when you two were taking your pictures at the signposts, right?"

"Well…" Juliana didn't want to be mean to Kieran, but, she had indeed taken note of how awkward Kieran looked in both of the pictures they'd taken so far.

"Exactly! So I came up with that brilliant life hack to get him guffawing before I hit snap! Now you've got a picture to remember this amazing night and both of our incredible smiles forever!"

Kieran didn't say anything, but let out a small snicker. There was a sudden jolt of commotion from far in the crowd, which drew all their attention.

"Oh. They must have just opened the Ogre—uhh, the—the Berry gathering game," Kieran observed, not wanting to use the attraction's "offensive" name.

"The Festival of Masks is held so we can all honor the Loyal Three, the brave heroes of Kitakami who once protected this land from the evil ogre." Carmine explained.

She turned her head so Juliana could see her mask, a blue monkey-like face that represented Munkidori of the Loyal Three.

"Most of the kids in town wear masks of the Loyal Three, like me. Did I mention they're our heroes?"

"…A few times, yeah," said Juliana, sheepishly.

Kieran rolled his eyes and chuckled to himself.

"What? What're you laughing at?"

"N-nothin'! I was just thinkin' it was funny that, like… you don't know anything about the ogre…"

"What!?" Carmine seethed. "I know the legends of Kitakami better than anybody! Pretty gutsy of you to laugh at your big sis!"

"S-sorry…"

Carmine shook her head. "Kiki's still a little baby, so of course he thinks some kind of terrible monster's cool. He likes the ogre more than the Loyal Three!"

"Aw, but, but…" Kieran tried to protest, but he just hung his head in shame instead.

Juliana was saddened to see Kieran's interests discouraged and decided to shift gears from trying to win over Carmine to supporting him again.

She patted him on the back.

"Hey… the legends say that Ogerpon's fight with the Loyal Three happened hundreds of years ago, right?" Kieran meekly nodded. "Then I say, who cares about who was the hero and who was the villain! If you love the ogre and Carmine loves these Loyal Three, then neither of you's right or wrong!"

"You—you really think that?" asked Kieran, his face lighting up.

"Absolutely! That mask of yours…" She pointed to it. "It represents the ogre, doesn't it?"

"Y-yeah, that's right!" Kieran answered, feeling chipper again. "The ogre gives me strength! The way it so coolly defeated all those Loyal Three bullies and showed such bravery and courage… it's what—it's what keeps me going and makes me want to become stronger too!"

"Tch."

"That's great, Kieran," Juliana assured him. "I think that's really special. Anything that gives you a drive to want to be better and stronger is a wonderful thing. I don't think there's anything baby-ish about that."

She made a pointed glance at Carmine… who for her part, was staring at the floor looking guilty.

"I—I guess when you put it like that… Fine. Love the ogre if you want. But I still say the Loyal Three are cooler…" she muttered.

Juliana and Kieran both giggled in response. And Carmine, feeling oddly jovial, joined them in laughing too. For the first time, all three of them were united in joy.

Chapter Text

With the Festival of Masks underway, Carmine busied herself with continuous games of Ogre Oustin', an activity she enjoyed doing since she was young since it was a great way for her to ride out some of her pent-up emotions. At the same time, she was reluctantly entrusting Juliana to spend the evening with Kieran checking out everything else at the festival.

Even then, Carmine couldn't help herself, after getting off the Stantler provided to her, from peering through the town fences to spy on the pair.

To her relief however, nothing nefarious was going on. Juliana and Carmine were walking around, eating candy apples. Juliana had bought a mask for herself to wear, a pink one based on one of the Loyal Three Fezandipiti, admired for its beauty and the belief that it bestows good fortunes. Carmine was intrigued by Juliana's choice, to say the least.

But what interested her even more was what the two of them were doing the whole time… which was just smiling and laughing with each other. In fact, Kieran seemed to look happier now than he had been in the past few months, at least from Carmine's observation.

She felt a warm smile on her face seeing her brother so happy, and much to her surprise, looking at Juliana seemed to make her want to smile too.

But this emotional response felt confusing to her, and finding a nearby bench, Carmine decided to sit with her arms in her lap and gather her thoughts.

I don't know. Maybe I really did have this whole 'outsiders ruining our land' thing all wrong. I just wanted to protect everyone, and protect Kieran too. But…

Look at how happy he is. I haven't seen him smile like that in so long. He's usually so timid, so quiet. Even that, or mouthing off at me…

A troubling notion began to form in Carmine's mind.

…Have I been pushing Kiki too far?

I poke fun at him for liking the ogre and being friendly with everyone, but… it was all light fun, wasn't it? I definitely didn't know how much he took the story with the ogre seriously and how happy it makes him…

Some dumb legend that isn't even real.

But Gram did order me to start supporting him more…

She heard a familiar loud laugh in the distance, and noticed Juliana. She'd been playing a balloon squirting game with Kieran, and laughed when Kieran sprayed her with the gun. Probably as revenge for beating him.

Juliana… Why do I keep convincing myself she's some evil mastermind, when she's… clearly just a dumb, naïve kid like Kieran? Happy at everything because she doesn't know any better.

Trying to force me to be her friend.

I don't know, I still hate the elders of Kitakami trying to force all these tourists into our home. This place has been just fine the way it is since we were kids. It doesn't need all these outsiders meddling around.

She sighed to herself. "I hate this. I keep feeling like I should just let my anger towards this girl go and just enjoy myself… but then she pulls that dumb smile at me again. And I feel all these, these burning feelings inside me…"

She seethed quietly to herself, shaking with her fists, until she noticed a little boy with a mask of Okidogi staring at her.

"What are you looking at, kid?" She turned away from him and pouted, while he just happily ran off with his cotton candy. "Can't a girl have any peace around here?"

At some point, Juliana made her way to the Ogre Oustin' attraction, which she got to play on the house due to being a foreigner… and in one go, managed to beat Carmine's score. A twofer for pushing the Kitakami girl's buttons.

"Aaaagh, I hate losing! That's what I get for falling into your niceness trap!" Carmine raged. "Trying to prove you're better than me! I knew you were no good! And showing off by using one of your own special riding Pokémon while you're at it! I can't believe they allow you to break the rules like that, you cheater!"

Juliana just laughed at how red Carmine's face was, which of course only made it redder.

"KIKI! Go serve Juliana a sound defeat for me!"

"W-what? Why me!?"

"Because I'm out of pocket money! I know Gramps always lends you more than me, and you need to defend your family honor against this outsider!"

Man, this is just like what my mom likes to say: "One step forward, and two steps back," Juliana thought to herself, amused.

Kieran resigned himself to dealing with Carmine's wrath while telling Juliana to wander around on her own and enjoy the festival.

So she took a little stroll around the area in front of the big temple, admiring the rows of paper lanterns lined up on the poles, and watching the children eat snow cones around all the big monuments.

As she rounded the corner past the temple however, Juliana spotted something peculiar.

There was a mysterious being that looked like a small child, all wrapped up in green, standing by their lonesome in an area from everyone else. It glanced around in several directions, before darting behind the building.

Is someone's kid running loose? Juliana wondered.

Concerned, she decided to tail behind the strange kid and see where they were going.

Dashing behind the temple building, she met up with the small child. It was standing at the edge of town now, just under the archway leading towards Oni Mountain. Juliana noticed that it seemed to be frantically looking in all directions.

Is this kid in trouble with someone and trying to hide?

But then… the child did something weird. Once it had scoped out all directions around it, it started leaping for joy and making strange noises.

Then it stopped dead in its tracks upon spotting Juliana. Juliana could now see that this peculiar young child was dressed up in a huge green cloak, looked like it was wearing black tights or something with unique sandals, and had a teal mask over their face that looked remarkably similar to Kieran's… but much bigger, covering its whole face, and with sparkling crystal decorations lining it.

Juliana, not sure who this child was or why it was hiding away from the rest of the crowd, decided to approach them and knelt down with a friendly smile on her face.

"Hi there…" she said gently. "Are you okay?"

The mysterious child just stared at her through their mask.

"Pon?"

"Are you enjoying the festival? That's a really cool mask!" Juliana complimented.

The child jumped up happily in response, and made cheerful noises.

"Ponio!"

While Kieran was all wrapped up in a game of Ogre Oustin'… which really meant that he was flailing and screaming while the Stantler he was riding ran around in all directions confused by its riders' orders, Carmine took a look out of the festival grounds and realized she couldn't see Juliana anymore.

"Huh… where did that pest run off to?"

She took some cautious walks around the area, stretching her neck out in different directions. Then she thought she saw something behind some bushes near the temple.

She poked her head through them and saw Juliana standing at the very edge of town.

"Huh? What are you doing all alone over there, you strange girl?"

She's not… thinking of hightailing it for Oni Mountain, isn't she?

Oh dear. Nobody warned her about all the creepy Ghost Pokémon that wander the cliffs of the mountain at night. I mean, my Pokémon and I can deal with a few mischievous ghosts no problem… but an outsider like her?

…Do I really wanna try and stop her?

She put her hand to her heart as she felt conflicted.

Ugh. I don't care about her. Why am I getting all worked up?

But… Kitakami is a really dangerous place at night. The Ghost Pokémon are one thing, but there's also that really weird Kitakami Ogre Clan or whatever that likes to hide out in weird places and ambush people…

She huffed defiantly.

You know what? I am a Guardian of Mossui Town, and it's my job to protect everyone in it! Even annoying outsiders!

That's right! It's nothing to do with Juliana, it's just my job to make sure she's alright!

Giving herself resolve, Carmine briskly ran to the edge of town where Juliana was… and then slowed her pace and decided to act casual, so as not to raise her suspicion's.

"Hey, Juliana! There you are!"

"C-Carmine!" Juliana reacted, sounding weirdly panicked.

"Check this out, right? Kiki's no use at all! Zero talent for oustin' ogres, I'm telling you!"

"Carmine, what are you—"

"EEE!"

Suddenly, a small child standing next to Juliana yelped in fear, and hightailed it outside of town and towards the steps leading up the mountain.

"Uhh… who was that?"

Juliana groaned and looked at her angrily. "I don't know! I just saw them wandering around by themselves and wanted to make sure they were alright. But you just scared them away!"

"Well, I didn't—Look! No time to play blame games, okay? Whose kid was that, anyway? It's not safe to play around here! Or go outside of town, especially at night!"

"Well then, we'd better follow them pronto!" Juliana declared, and to Carmine's shock, she sprinted down the road outside of town.

Eventually, feeling out of breath, she made it to the stairs going up the mountain. The mysterious child was at the top of them, looking down upon her with their glimmering mask.

"Hey!" Juliana called out, cupping her hands together. "We're really sorry for scaring you! It's okay, you can come down now! I promise!"

Carmine rushed up alongside her. "Wait, Juliana! You shouldn't run off on your own!"

Juliana was surprised to see Carmine looking at her with such concern.

"Hey, new kid! That goes for you too!" Carmine called out to the child.

The child seemed to shiver and step back upon seeing Carmine.

Suddenly, it leapt in the air and landed atop even more stairs. But then, losing its balance, the child's teal mask slipped off its face and tumbled down the stairs, until it landed at Juliana's feet.

"Woah! That's a pretty snazzy mask!" Carmine commented.

Juliana picked up the mask. She looked up at the child who had just dropped it, but that's when she realized something wasn't right.

Upon looking up, she saw the exact same glowing yellow eyes that were looking down upon her from the mountain earlier that evening.

The face that Juliana saw looked immensely terrified… but more importantly, it didn't look like the face of a human child at all.

Apprehensively, Juliana picked up the mask, which felt surprisingly heavy in her hands, and held it out towards the "child", reaching up with it.

"Hey… hey, don't worry, I've got your mask right here…"

The "child" moved a step forward cautiously, looking nervous. Juliana tried to keep a quiet composure so as not to scare it, but…

"You should come back!" Carmine shouted. "The mountain's dangerous at night!"

The "child" reared back, appearing frightened and shy. Then, making both of them gasp, it covered its face in its cloaked arms and sprinted away, completely out of sight.

"Wha…?"

"Who was that?" Carmine wondered. "Where'd that kid come from?"

Juliana took a close look at the teal mask she was holding.

It was not a plastic mask like Kieran's.

It was large, heavy, and looked to be made of painted wood. The paint was actually chipping at several points on the mask, making it look quite old. The crystals adorned on it were shining and glimmering, minus some pieces that had broken off in the fall. To Juliana, these crystals felt… strangely familiar to her.

That, along with the brief glimpse she got of the creature's face, caused a huge realization to dawn upon her.

"Carmine! I-I don't think that was a kid at all!"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"It looked more like a Pokémon than a person… And, and this mask… It's so old and uniquely made… And it looks just like the one in the legends…"

"What are you trying to get?" Then her eyes grew wide. "Wait… all that, and they ran off toward the mountain… You're not possibly suggesting it was…"

"THE OGRE!" Carmine and Juliana declared at the same time.

Carmine gasped. "The real ogre!? From the story on all the signboards?"

"It has to be… it has to be!"

"Are you saying that story was TRUE!?"

Juliana was taken aback. "Wait, so you didn't even believe in it?"

"Well, I—" Carmine was still utterly rattled. "I just thought it was a folktale they made up this whole time, t-to keep kids from wandering off into the dangerous parts of Kitakami! That's—that's the whole reason I thought it was so irresponsible for Kiki to think the ogre was the hero! But—but…"

She glanced at the huge mask, still in Juliana's hands.

"I mean, they did drop this mask… And you're right, I've never seen one like that. So it really must be…"

"Juliana! Sis!"

Their realization was cut short when they both heard Kieran calling their names.

"Oh no…" Carmine said quietly.

"What're you guys doin' all the way over here? I tried looking for you, and then I heard you both shouting."

Juliana gasped. "Kieran! You're never gonna believe this! We both just saw—"

"HEY!" Carmine gasped. "Wait—stop, stop, stop!" She waved her hands frantically in Juliana's face to make her shush, which startled and confused her.

"Huh?" Kieran was confused too. "Why are you yellin' all of a sudden, sis?"

"I-it's nothing!" Carmine said frantically. "It's nothing you'd be interested in at all, I swear!"

Juliana watched all this with a face of shock. She didn't understand why Carmine was insisting upon this.

"Huh."

Kieran took this with a blank response. He glanced at Juliana, who looked like a deer in headlights. He had never seen her looking so frantic either.

"Were you… were you makin' fun of me behind my back or something…?" he said with great worry.

"No, no!" Juliana pleaded, her eyes wide with alarm. "Kieran, it wasn't like that at all! I swear!"

"Huh?" Kieran reared back. "W-wait! I was just talking to my sis! Juliana? Why are—why are you acting like that?"

"I—I didn't… Oops," Juliana said sheepishly.

Carmine groaned. "It was a DUSKULL, okay! Juliana and I found a Duskull outside of town and were just trying to shoo it off! Right? Right!?" she looked to Juliana for affirmation.

But Juliana just stood there, her lip quivering in panic.

Kieran looked frustrated. "But that doesn't make sense. Why would you…?" Now he looked to Juliana for affirmation… and her face just grew more paralyzed. He sighed. "I'm just gonna… I'm just gonna head back to the festival…"

His head drifting downward a bit, he turned around and started walking back without another word. Juliana wanted to stop him. Wanted to reach out or say something. But… she couldn't bring herself to.

"Whew, that was a close one," said Carmine, taking this in a lot more stride than her. "At least he didn't figure out what we were really talking about."

She then turned to Juliana with a furious look, which frightened the poor girl.

"And YOU! Don't scare me like that—blabbing about the ogre for the whole world to hear! Don't you have any filter at all!?"

Juliana, going through several stages of emotions at all, settled on anger.

"Wh—well, why were we LYING to Kieran!? You saw the ogre, just the same as I did! What the heck is wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me!? I'm looking out for my little bro! And hey, we did not lie to him!"

"Yeah, not until you brought up the Dusko—whatever you said! Or said he wouldn't be interested in the ogre of all things!"

"First of all, that's not a lie, more like… an exaggeration. There are Duskull creeping around these parts sometimes, so it probably wasn't really wrong. And look… the thing about the ogre."

Carmine knelt down to meet Juliana more at eye level, and put a hand on her shoulder. This brought Juliana out of her anger… because this was a brand new side the Kitakami girl was showing her.

"See, Juliana… here's the thing. You know how much Kiki likes the ogre. Like, really, really, REALLY likes it."

"Well, y-yeah…"

"So, if he found out we'd seen the ogre without him… I-I guess I was just afraid he'd feel bad… y'know?"

Carmine knelt down knees low to the ground and looked forlorn, genuinely morose in a way Juliana hadn't seen her before.

"Feel left out or something…" She looked up at Juliana now, a totally new sight, with a face that almost looked… pleading. "Am I… am I overthinking it?"

Juliana was shocked to see Carmine being so vulnerable with her all of a sudden.

She's never been this sincere with me. I guess I really am breaking her walls down…

She noticed for the first time that Carmine had a really cute beauty mark underneath her left eye.

"Well… No, not really… But… But um… He still thinks we were having fun without him. I… I can't believe he thought we were both making fun of him!"

Carmine stood up once more. "Yeah, I don't know what was up with that. It's not usually like him to jump to conclusions and assume the worst… Oh, well. He'll get over it. 'Sides, I didn't want him running up the mountain to follow the ogre at this hour, either."

She took a big sigh. "Well… in any case, we already lied about it, and that's that. Hey, Juliana. Let's… keep this whole thing our little secret, okay? And maybe hold off on showing Kiki that mask you just picked up, too."

Juliana looked distraught. "I-I don't know…"

"Please…?" Carmine appealed to her with both her hands clasped. "I just want him to be safe. And… and look. I can… tell already you're not the world's greatest liar. So… from now on, just leave the lyin' to me. I'm his big sister, so I'm used to it."

Juliana still looked uncertain.

"Okay, look… I'm asking you as…" She stuck her tongue out for a second, in disbelief she was about to say this. "I'm—I'm asking you as a friend, okay? A secret between friends isn't so bad, right?"

"F-f-friend?"

Juliana was completely gobsmacked to hear Carmine call her that. She looked at the girl's worried face, and at the large mask still in her hands…

"I…" She gulped. "Okay. Yes. I promise."

"Oh, thank you, thank you so much!" Carmine said really cheerfully. "I'll make it worth your while, just wait and see! Do you like mochi? I'll make sure to win you a ton of mochi!"

Carmine started to run off towards town again. Juliana was going to let her, until she looked down and…

"Hey, wait!"

"What?" Carmine stopped.

"W-what about the mask? And… the ogre? Shouldn't—shouldn't we try to give this back to it?"

"Umm…" Carmine's eyes bulged. "Yeah, darn. I kind of forgot about that. Umm… look. Let's not worry about it for tonight, okay? It'd be dangerous to try to go after that thing anyways. Just—just keep that wherever you're sleeping for now, and I promise we'll get back to it tomorrow or something, okay?"

"O-okay."

"Great! And…" Carmine put her hand to her heart and gave a genuine smile. "Thanks, Juliana."

She ran off again.

…

Juliana was of two minds.

On the one hand, she still felt an awful pit in her stomach after deceiving Kieran like that, a friend who she'd promised never to keep secrets from.

But… she also felt like she was floating. She couldn't explain why. Something about Carmine calling her a friend… thanking her so sincerely… and smiling at her. Like, a real genuine smile.

Juliana felt strange flutters through her body thinking about it.

Her mouth wanted to do one of two things as she gazed upon the ogre's mysterious mask.

"Could I really do this…?" she wondered aloud, like she was talking to the mask. "Is it still possible to make two friends out of this whole ordeal?"

She looked up towards Oni Mountain, where the ogre had run off.

"Maybe… three?"

Chapter Text

Juliana stretched her arms out with a loud groan as she stepped out of her guest bedroom in the Mossui Town community center.

Emerging from her dark cave with a nasty case of bedhead, she felt just a tiny bit groggy, the result of Briar wanting everyone to be up and at 'em an hour earlier than Juliana was used to waking up for classes at Uva Academy, or in the midst of her Treasure Hunt study in the rest of Paldea.

Not too big a deal, since she was no stranger to an irregular sleep schedule, especially when she was deep in her many quests. But after all the excitement of yesterday, Juliana fell into bed and basically crashed. And even after that, she would all but admit to anyone that she felt pretty beat.

Having to sit through Briar's "daily morning orientation" did no favors in making her want to just go back to bed and pass out for the next year or two.

Luckily, the community center was serving free soft pretzels for breakfast, and Juliana decided at that moment that hot pretzels with mustard were a godsend.

Even so, she was still rubbing her eyes when she stepped out of the community center, wincing at the sun like some kind of vampire… when a sudden voice jolted her awake.

"FINALLY! There you are, Queen of the Snorlax!"

"Wh—Huh!?"

Carmine had been pacing at the center of town outside the center, apparently waiting all that time for Juliana to get up for who knows how long.

"Look sharp, Juliana! Just because we didn't agree to meet doesn't mean you get to keep me waiting!"

"Wha… what are you talking about?" said Juliana, all dazed. "Let me sleep in for another hour if you're gonna start yelling at me again…"

Carmine snarled her teeth. "Hey! Do you want me to slap you until you're all the way awake!? Because you're really askin' for it right now and I'll gladly provide that service for free!"

Juliana just responded with a groggy groan.

"See, uh… the thing is… I wanted to talk to you for a bit," Carmine said more softly, a total shift in demeanor.

She was tugging at her wrist now, and looking downwards. Almost a 180 from how she'd looked seconds ago… or indeed, for much of the time Juliana had seen her.

Juliana rubbed her whole face so she could give her friend… that's right her friend, the utmost attention.

"You haven't told anybody about the, y'know… the… thing that happened yesterday? Right?"

"…What thing?"

"Y—Do you lose your whole memory when you sleep or something!?" Carmine shouted.

"Heh, there you are…" Juliana chuckled. "Sorry. It was a joke."

"Ugh." Carmine pinched the bridge of her nose. "You are completely impossible to deal with sometimes. Listen. You still have the… you-know-what that I asked you to keep, right?" She squinted. "And you'd better know what I'm talking about."

"Why are we speaking in code? Are there spies listening in on us or something?" Juliana asked, amused at Carmine's overtly cautious mannerisms. "Anyway… yeah, I got it. It's in my room."

"You'd seriously have better not shown that thing to anyone! If I find out you blabbed, I'm gonna make you swallow a Koffing whole!"

Juliana sighed. "I seriously didn't. Skwovet Scout's honor."

"…Whatever that is, it sounds stupid. But great. Because uhh… I did tell my grandpa about it since I thought he might know something. He often talks about old Kitakami legends. And… he said he wants to see the both of us pronto. And he wants you to bring the mask."

"Oh. Huh."

"You remember where my house is, right?" Juliana nodded. "Great! Bring that thing without anyone seeing you, and don't keep either of us waiting, okay?"

Juliana grabbed the ogre's mask and ran to Carmine's house as quickly as she could… and was promptly blocked from entering the yard.

"Umm, excuse me!? I thought when you went back to your room, you were going to fix that rat's nest trying to swallow your face!"

"Ugh. Carmine, my legs are killing me…"

"Well, I can't be seen with you looking the way you do! Do you know what that would do to my image?" Carmine smiled a little. "Actually… you should do your ponytail like you had last night. It looked cute on you."

"Awww, you thought I looked cute?"

…

"Just go back and do your hair please so you don't look like a total disaster."

So off she went back to her room at the center to redo her hair like Yukito showed her, and then Juliana went back to the house, where Carmine was waiting out front with her grandfather.

Just as she made it to the porch, the door swung open.

"Kieran!"

"Hey, Juliana! G'mornin'!" Kieran greeted cheerfully.

"Urk!" went a startled Carmine. "Tsk, he's awake."

"I thought I saw you comin' up to our house! Wanna go see the last signboard?"

"Oh! Um…" Juliana scratched her head nervously. "Right. Forgot about that. See, the thing is…"

Carmine started rapidly shaking her head at her, which made Juliana feel paralyzed again. So she motioned Carmine to speak instead.

"Kiki, go find someplace else to be! Juliana's got business with me!" Carmine ordered, taking the initiative a little too seriously. Juliana winced.

Kieran looked crushed for a second, which made Juliana's heart shatter into pieces.

"Seriously? She's spending all this time with you now…" He shot back up at Carmine and looked mad. "That's so unfair! You can be such a jerk…"

"What'd you just call me!?"

Then, out of nowhere, Kieran grabbed Juliana's wrist, making her gasp, and tried to start walking.

"C'mon, Juliana. We don't need her." But Juliana wouldn't budge. "…Juliana? What's wrong?"

Juliana's mind was racing. She didn't expect Kieran to try to force her away like this, or to say something so harsh to Carmine. She was starting to feel that pit in her stomach again.

We… we were all fine last night. What on earth happened!?

"Kieran…" She gently slid her hand out from Kieran's grasp. "Look… I know we still have the last signboard. But… I… Carmine's right. I wanted to… speak with her and your grandpa about something important first. Then I promise we can go adventuring right afterwards, okay?"

Kieran didn't respond for a few seconds. He looked at Juliana's arm in a weird way, like he wasn't sure why he grabbed it that hard. But then… he just ran off.

"Hmph!"

Juliana looked after him, shocked.

"What's his deal? Kiki should know better than to talk back to me like that," said Carmine.

"That's enough, Carmine!" Hideko scolded. "Be kind to your younger brother!"

"I WAS being kind! It's not like I'm the one going around grabbing people without their permission!" She gently took Juliana's arm in her own hand. "He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"N-no. I'm fine but… that was so odd of him."

Hideko looked saddened. "I'm sorry, Juliana. I don't know what's gotten into him. He's been so moody ever since he came home from the festival last night."

"Great, he must have hit puberty at last," Carmine remarked, rolling her eyes. "Maybe he'll finally grow a few inches. Anyway, we've got more important things to discuss, right Juliana? C'mon, you've gotta show grandpa the you-know-what!"

Juliana was still a little shaken, both from that encounter that just happened and how callous Carmine's attitude seemed. She was starting to feel similar worries again that she had expressed to Jacq the night prior.

Now Carmine's getting friendlier with me, but less considerate of Kieran…? I'm—I'm starting to feel glad I'm an only child.

Hideko sensed Juliana's turmoil and turned to scold his granddaughter again.

"Carmine, take yourself down a few notches. You need to be more patient with your little brother and your friends." Carmine pouted. "Now then… I know this is all a bit much for you Juliana, so you're welcome to sit on my bench if you need to compose yourself."

"Well, thank you umm—"

"Call me Hideko-san, sweetheart. Oh! But umm… before you do, Carmine was telling me about the mask you found. May I see it, please?"

"Sure thing."

Juliana reached into the backpack she had brought with her and dug out the ogre's mask from it.

Hideko took the mask from her and examined it… and his eyes slowly widened.

"Could this be…? It really is…" He gasped loudly. "This mask, girls! It—it belongs to that poor ogre! Where did you find this!?"

"We saw it last night!" said Juliana. "The ogre!"

"With our own eyes! I tried talking to it all nice and everything, but it dropped that mask and… yeah."

Hideko pondered all of this, gazing down upon the mask. With a thoughtful look on his face, he started pacing.

"I never would've thought that the ogre would still be gracing our festival with its presence after all these years…" he ruminated, stroking his beard.

"Huh?" Carmine put her fingers to her bangs, confused. "What do you mean 'still'? I thought the ogre was a scoundrel that attacked the village."

Hideko didn't answer, his back still turned.

"…There's more to the story than that, isn't there?" Juliana probed.

"…"

Hideko turned around to face them, looking resigned.

"I suppose it's time I told you, Carmine…" But he turned to look at Juliana. "Juliana… you're a nice girl, but would it be too much to ask if I told Carmine what I know alone? It's no offense to you, but you're not from around here and these are some closely guarded secrets I bear. Not for outsiders to hear."

Juliana glumly nodded. "I get it. I'll wait inside."

She started to turn to walk towards the house, but Carmine gently grabbed her shoulder.

"Juliana's cool, Gramps. I can… I can vouch for her."

Juliana was shocked.

"Y-you can?"

But… your whole thing has been about me being an untrustworthy outsider…

Carmine nodded. "She can keep a secret. I trust her."

Hideko nodded, a soft smirk on his face.

"Very well. This story has been passed down in our family by word of mouth. I learned it from my father. It's a story of truths... A story that must never be told to the rest of the village. Both of you girls must hold it close to your chest and never speak of it to others. Understood?"

They both nodded.

"You see, the truth of what happened with that ogre, or… Ogerpon as it's rightly named, is… the other way around."

"Several hours later, when the ogre returned to the cave...it found its beloved home in ruin, and its partner nowhere to be seen. All that was left were the signs of a struggle and a teal mask.

The ogre donned that mask and went down to the village, perhaps to search for its friend. It found the greedy Pokémon there, gloating over their stolen masks, and defeated all four of them."

"You mean three, gramps," Carmine corrected.

"Huh?"

"We're talking about the Loyal Three, right?"

"Oh…" He cleared his throat. "So you're right. I don't know why I remembered my father telling it to me as four of them. Anyway…"

"For the ogre, it was a matter of honor. But the villagers of course had no idea what was happening nor why.

All they saw was the raging ogre. And they felt great fear. The villagers thought the three Pokémon had fallen trying to protect the village from the ogre.

To honor their sacrifice, the villagers named them the Loyal Three and interred them with care. Wounded and weak, the ogre returned to its cave—alone and with great sadness."

"That's awful…" a sad Juliana reacted. "That poor little thing, alone and misjudged all these years…"

As the story finished, Carmine was bearing her teeth with great fury.

"That's terrible…" She started booming all of a sudden, raising her shaking fists. "Ogerpon didn't deserve that! And the Loyal Three… they're no heroes at all! THEY'RE THE WORST!"

Juliana was taken aback by Carmine's emotions.

For all the times I've seen her yelling, she's never been this angry before!

Carmine dashed to the yard, seemingly unable to stand still. Her eyes were bright and boiling with anger.

"The story everyone's been told is the complete opposite of the truth! Worshipping a bunch of horrible bullies! They gotta hear about this!"

"W-wait, Carmine!" an alarmed Juliana called. "We shouldn't get too—"

"Calm yourself, Carmine!" Hideko suddenly raised his voice. He stood up from the bench. "I already told you to keep it to yourself!"

"But, Grandpa!" Carmine sprinted back in front of her grandfather and seethed even more. "Why!? It's not FAIR! None of this is fair!"

"I'm sorry, my dear… but the villagers believe their own version of history. You know how much they revere the Loyal Three. How do you think they would react to being told that they've got it all wrong?"

"Well! I—I—" Carmine sputtered.

"They'd probably get… angry, right?" Juliana guessed. "A lot of them would probably refuse to believe it."

"Exactly," Hideko nodded. "Back when this all first occurred, the mask maker—that is to say, our ancestor—tried desperately to tell the truth of the matter. But nobody would take him seriously. …In fact, it's said he was persecuted as a heretic."

Carmine still couldn't stop herself from moving. She paced up and down the grass so hard she was threatening to make wells in the ground.

She slammed her fists together. "Oooh, that REALLY gets my blood boiling!"

This is another side of Carmine I haven't seen before, Juliana observed. She always gets mad for a second over some tiny things but… she's really, really angry this time. And… it's like she can't let it go this time.

"In the end, the mask maker chose to protect his descendants—meaning, us—by keeping his mouth shut. However, he kept the truth alive. Passed down from generation to generation as a family secret."

He turned to Juliana rather sorrowfully.

"I really don't want to put too much pressure on you, sweetheart but… you really may be the first one outside of family to know the truth about Ogerpon and the Loyal Three in hundreds of years."

Juliana gulped and laughed nervously. "That's—that's a lot of responsibility."

Juliana felt the weight of this burden for sure. She didn't entirely disagree with Carmine about her being a terrible liar. But… Carmine was also the one who vouched for her, so she wasn't going to let that mean nothing.

"I—I promise you sir, I'll never breathe a word of it to anyone. And… and thank you for trusting me with this knowledge."

"I can't believe you're so calm about this!" Carmine fretted. "I don't know if I can ever… look at anyone in this town the same after this! I'm just—I can't…"

She started to hold onto her head like she was sinking into it. But she was brought out of it by Juliana, who gently squeezed her hand.

"Hey… it'll be okay. Really."

Juliana couldn't tell, but Carmine gave her a face that looked a bit like a gentle smile.

"…Kiki doesn't know the whole story yet, does he?"

Hideko thought on it. "He shouldn't, no. I've certainly never spoken to him about it. Why do you ask?"

"I dunno." Carmine looked down to the ground. "He just really seems to like the ogre… He's practically obsessed. And he's been trying to one-up me! As if he knows more about Ogerpon than I do."

"He is?" Hideko responded, sounding surprised. "I never knew any of that… he's never said as much about it."

Juliana remembered how defensive Kieran seemed about his passion for the ogre, and guessed out loud, "Maybe… maybe he was so afraid of being judged for it that he never said it to anyone but… but to you, Carmine."

Carmine looked surprised, and slightly guilty.

"I would apologize over a million years for everything I've ever said to him about it if I'd known all this…"

Hideko shook his head. "Well, I can't say what's going on with the boy… but he always was a sensitive child. It wouldn't surprise me if he's somehow intuited the truth." He chuckled a bit to himself. "It's funny. I've mentioned to your grandfather before how much I see of the mask maker, the way he was described in my father's stories, in young Kieran."

"Sounds like you were more right than you thought," Juliana smiled.

"I promise to tell Kieran the whole story when the time is right. … Until then, I really mean it. Take care not to breathe a word of the truth to anybody!"

"Aye-aye, grandpa," said Carmine.

"Yes, sir."

Carmine's grandfather asked to see the Teal Mask in closer detail, and discovered the jewel on its forehead got chipped when it fell down the stairs, so Juliana and Carmine entrusted it to his care.

They walked to the entrance together, and as they did, Carmine was still processing everything in her head.

"Man," she said aloud. "Now we really can't tell Kiki we met the ogre…"

Juliana started to nod, but then this jolted something her memory.

"Oh no!" She grasped her head in panic.

"What? What's wrong?"

"I just remembered—Kieran and I still have to go visit that last signpost." She started huffing in great stress. "I'm gonna go on a whole 'nother adventure with him and have to keep quiet about all this the whole time! I can't do that!"

"Juliana, you have to!" Carmine faced her seriously. "We promised Grandpa, remember?"

"Yeah, but—but—Kieran's… Kieran's my friend." Juliana clutched at her heart. "And I promised him I would never hide anything from him. I… I already felt so dirty and so awful lying to him last night."

Carmine exhaled through her nose. She looked out into the sky. And then, she knelt down to face Juliana at eye level again.

"Look, Juliana… I don't like it either. I've never kept a secret this big from Kiki, not once in my whole life. He and I used to share stuff we wouldn't tell our own grandparents, like—like you pointed out back there."

She glanced away briefly. The thought of just how much she and Kieran confide in each other more than anything had never really registered with her until now.

At that moment, she thought back on something Kieran had told her last night at the festival…

"Sis… if I tell ya somethin', do you promise not to tell anyone else? E-especially Juliana?"

It was something she remembered with regret as she saw Juliana's worrying face.

"But… I've also gone through a lot of stuff between the different schools I've been to. And—and I've had to learn some hard lessons. Like the fact that… Sometimes… there are times when you have to do something you know will hurt someone. It isn't nice but… it's for their own good."

Juliana considered these words, but she defiantly shook her head.

"I'm sorry for whatever you went through Carmine, but… but I don't think that's true. Surely, there's no problems between people that can't be solved by being nice and completely honest with each other."

It was Carmine's turn to stand up and shake her head.

"Well… maybe that's true in your school. I don't know. You and the rest of your classmates are so friendly with each other and everyone else it's almost a little sickening. But welcome to the rest of the world. I mean… I still wish I could tell everyone in town the whole truth, but… like Gramps said, I guess everyone would riot."

Juliana clasped both hands on her heart now, feeling completely torn on what to do. She winced to herself, and shook her head at Carmine.

"I really don't know if I can do this, Carmine. He's my friend."

"And he's my little brother. Remember?" She put both hands on Juliana's shoulders. "If anything ever happened to Kiki, I wouldn't live with myself. And I love him, but he's got no filter. If he knew the truth about Ogerpon, he would blab it to the whole town! And they'd probably go after him! We can't have that, Juliana. I… I can't have that."

Juliana hung her head down. She hated how much sense Carmine was making.

"Okay… okay. I promise I'll—I'll do my best not to tell him anything."

Carmine sighed in immense relief.

"For now, you and I should just carry on with the orienteering stuff before Kiki gets suspicious. I really wanna see Ogerpon again! But I guess getting its mask fixed will have to come first."

"He took off in quite a hurry. Do you know where I'll find him?"

"Kiki? Oh… knowing him, you'll find him killing time somewhere in town!"

…

Unbeknownst to them however, Kieran had been standing behind the archway to their house. Listening in on them for who knows how long.

Long enough that the look of betrayal was evident on his face.

"I don't believe it…" he said quietly to himself, sounding deeply hurt.

He marched down the hilly road from his house into town. His soft steps slowly became more pronounced as his sadness slowly began to shift to anger.

"I thought someone finally understood me… I thought Juliana was my best friend, someone who wouldn't hide things from me, and would stand up for me against my sis and all the silly adults…"

He began to kick a rock along the ground as he walked.

"Instead, she—she thinks I'm just as big a baby as Carmine does! Talking about protecting me from everyone… fuh!"

He was kicking the rock even harder, to the point that it bounced along the ground.

"Ogerpon…" He was saying quietly to himself. "Ogerpon…"

He stopped in his tracks. His hands clenched into fists and they were beginning to tremble. A dark look came about in his eyes.

"I loved the ogre first. Before anybody else. But I'm not good enough to even know what its real name is? Why does she get to know!? And why does she get to have Juliana all to herself!? GrrrrrRRRRRR!"

Kieran was so wound up at this point, he took out all his anger on the rock and violently kicked it in the direction of Peachy's stand.

Taking some breaths to calm himself down, he bent over to pick it up.

Then he stopped.

Juliana marched into town looking for Kieran. She noticed right away that Mossui Town had a… somewhat different air to it from before. There was usually a light wind blowing consistently through the town from the direction of the Reveler's Road, but the air today was rather still.

There were also less people in town today. Juliana didn't know if it being a weekend day had any effect on that, although admittedly the idea of farmers working on the same schedule as an academy student is an odd one.

Most of all, Juliana noticed a sweet, almost peach-like scent wafting in the air. She walked towards the direction of Peachy's stand, interested to know where it was coming from, and to her surprise, found her friend standing just in front of the place.

"Kieran!" she called out.

She ran over to greet him… but Kieran stood still, and didn't even seem to acknowledge her.

"…Kieran?"

Now very concerned, she stepped up until she was standing right behind him and tapped his shoulder.

"Kieran?"

Kieran gasped and turned around. He quickly shoved something into his pocket.

"Oh, uh… H-hey, Juliana. I didn't see you there."

"That's okay!" Juliana chuckled. "I'm just glad you're alright. Sorry for keeping you waiting, but I'm ready to find that signpost now!"

"Yeah…"

Kieran seemed oddly distant. He didn't have much of a facial expression, and in fact, his bangs were drifting a little more over his face than usual, like he'd been ruffling his hair.

Juliana looked at him a bit puzzled. He doesn't seem nearly as talkative as he did a minute ago…

"So… are we… all set to go?" she asked to pry an answer from him. She was swaying her arms a bit nervously.

There was a bit of a tinge on Kieran's face, like he wanted to smile. But then he quickly shook his face blank again. His own left arm started to rock back and forth.

"So, I… I was gonna ask. What were you and my sis, just, uh… talkin' about that was so important?"

Juliana's eyes went up in panic. Alarm bells rang through her head.

I wasn't expecting to have to lie so soon…

In situations like these, where Juliana wasn't sure how to answer something, it often played out like a list of choices in her head. One choice read for her to say "Nothing much." The total lie. Another read for her to say "This and that," which was more so a lie of omission.

…And then there was the hidden third choice, louder than the rest, saying "JUST TELL KIERAN THE DARN TRUTH!"

She wanted to select that option. She wanted to so badly. It was only imagining Carmine's worried, pleading face that finally made her acquiesce.

"Oh… this and that, I guess," she finally said. "Nothing too… exciting."

Inside, Juliana felt all of her bones crumbling away and her soul leaving her body in shame.

Kieran meanwhile felt his brain and his heart both explode in a fiery blaze.

"Oh, I-I see…" he answered after a bit of a pause, with his eyes closed.

Both of them stood there across from each other. There was a feeling of an invisible brick wall slowly growing in front of Juliana.

Finally, Kieran opened his eyes and seemed to speak more casually.

"S-so! About those signs! The last one's not too big of a hike." He pointed out to where the river bended past Reveler's Road. "It's over there, in Mossfell Confluence. It should only take us a little bit to get to it."

Juliana swallowed a few times, trying to garner enough of her willpower back to speak innocently around her friend who she had just secretly betrayed like the horrible villain she was.

"I-I thought…" she started to say, her voice trembling. It felt like there was a Bellibolt in her throat for each word she wanted to get out. "Last night at the festival, you said… you pointed at something called the… Fellhorn Gorge? And said you wanted to go there for the last signpost today."

"I changed my mind," Kieran answered sharply. "Mossfell Confluence is a lot closer. I—I don't feel like walking too much, so I just want to go there and get this done."

"Oh, okay." Juliana tried to casually hoist her Cinch Bag on her shoulders. But even though the bag was light, the weight of her guilt was making it feel much heavier on her soul.

"You go on ahead. I'll catch up."

"…You sure?"

"Yeah. Just go."

Juliana wanted to say something else. To affirm with him, to ask if he needed anything, to confess to all of her terrible sins and wrap Kieran in a big hug while saying sorry over and over again.

But… she couldn't bring herself to do any of those things.

So instead, she just nodded. And glumly made her way to the bridge leading to Reveler's Road.

At the edge of the bridge, she took one last look Kieran's way. He was still just calmly staring at her. No sign of hurt at all. But as she crossed into the fields, she still whispered to herself, "This stinks."

Once she was completely out of sight, Kieran sighed like he'd been holding in a huge breath.

As he stared to the ground, his eyes catching sight of the rock he'd been kicking earlier… an expression of sadness appeared.

"Why…" he mumbled. "Why'd you lie to me…?"

Chapter Text

One night was bad enough, but after not just waking up early but barely getting any sleep at all last night, Juliana practically felt dead.

Her whole body ached and throbbed as she made her way to the mirror.

She looked like crap. She felt like crap.

She was still in her pajamas. Her hair was a mess. She could barely see her own eyes.

Perhaps that was a good thing. Because every time Juliana caught a glimpse of her own eyes, she saw Kieran's spiteful eyes looking back at her…

When they had gotten to Mossfell Confluence yesterday, Kieran surprised Juliana by almost immediately asking for a battle once they'd arrived at the signpost. Juliana, hoping to keep him in a good mood, agreed.

Kieran had buffed his team up considerably since their last match, and Juliana tried to compliment him on that.

But… it was like his entire attitude had changed. He fretted the entire match about how he wasn't doing very well, how he didn't think any of this through.

What hit Juliana the most was when her Slugma felled his Ferret, and rather than encouraging Ferret… Kieran apologized because they both weren't strong enough.

This put a sour air over the rest of the battle, with Slugma being taken down by Kieran's Poliwhirl, only for Mienfoo to come out and beat Poliwhirl. Then Kieran, acting as if he was that desperate for a win, pulled out his prized Dipplin for the first time.

Dipplin took down Mienfoo, and had Juliana's Jangmo-o down to the ropes… but Jangmo-o came back with a swift Dragon Claw and knocked Dipplin out.

"I-it's all… 'cause I'm too weak…" Kieran lamented after the battle had ended. "That's why I…" He started to ball up an angry, shaking fist.

The air became tense after that. Juliana tried to lift his spirits up, but Kieran seemed like he was stuck in his own head. He ignored Juliana and insisted they just take the signpost photo so they can go home.

…To say the picture came out very awkward would be an understatement.

Kieran started walking away immediately afterward.

"Well, we're all done with this assignment. You can go ahead and tell Ms. Briar that. But I've gotta focus on getting stronger with my Pokémon…"

"Kieran…" Juliana tried calling out.

"…I'm gonna head home."

"Bye…?" Juliana awkwardly waved.

After a bit though… Kieran suddenly stopped.

"…When we were going to the other signposts, you talked about your friends. Back home in Paldea. … C-can I ask you a question?"

Juliana smiled. "Sure, Kieran. Anything."

He turned around… with a spiteful look in his eye.

"Did you ever have to do something to hurt any of them? Like… lie?"

Her smile dropped. Juliana did nothing but stand there and look pensive. Guilty.

"…Didn't think so." Then he turned around and walked away again.

Those eyes stuck with Juliana, like an image burned onto a screen.

Why would you do that to me. Why would you lie. You promised. You promised.

You promised.

Juliana had her eyes closed the whole time she did her ponytail.

The young Paldean rubbed her eyes as she stepped out into the hallway in her jinbei. She had her arms crossed and her eyes glued to the ground. Anything else she would look at, in one way or another, just seemed to remind her of her guilt.

So she wasn't looking when someone happened to bump into her by accident.

"Sorry, I- Oh good, you're awake."

Juliana was surprised when one of her fellow Uva Academy students, the short kid in glasses who had fallen sick at the bus stop the day they first arrived, approached her.

"Good morning to you too?" Juliana replied, half-confused and half in a sleepy daze.

"Umm… your name is Juliana, right?"

"That's my name, don't… don't wear it out," she chuckled lightly.

"Are… you okay?" the boy asked, noticing the bags under her eyes and how shaky her gait was.

"Yeah, I just… slept terrible." The blur slowly fading from Juliana's vision, she was able to make out the kid's face in front of her. "Oh, I remember you. Your name was… Butch, right? You're feeling a lot better now, right?"

Butch sighed in annoyance, having wanted to put that episode behind him.

"I'm just… glad you remembered my name. Carmine hasn't bothered to learn mine the whole time we've been partnered up."

"Oh!" Juliana laughed while leaning against the wall. "You were the one stuck with Carmine, huh?"

"Yeah. And the whole time we were out, to her I was just "shorty", "four-eyes", "twerp", or… occasionally, she would just call out 'Hey you! The not cute one'."

"That's weird," she mumbled.

"You're telling me! I kept asking her who the cute one is supposed to be, and she would just tell me to shut my lip!"

Juliana was struggling to keep her eyes open, which Butch took as a sign he should move along.

"Uhh… anyway. I was supposed to go again with Carmine today, but she told me to buzz off and to come get you instead."

This helped wake Juliana up. "Oh."

"Yeah." He added, "I guess I'll just… find something to do in here or whatever since I can't go orienteering with her today…"

As Juliana walked through the lobby, she spotted the community center staff serving hot pretzels for the students again.

She thought about taking one… but instead left without.

I don't deserve one anyway.

Once Juliana arrived at Carmine's house, her grandfather Hideko explained that he'd wanted to fix Ogerpon's mask exactly as it was, but that it needs one more material: a Crystal Cluster from the bottom of the Crystal Pool.

"The Crystal Pool's at the highest peak of Oni Mountain, all the way on the far side of the Infernal Pass," Carmine explained.

"Wow. That's—quite a hike just for some crystals."

"I mean, we COULD just return the mask as it is. But…" She clasped her hands together and began jumping up and down. "But don't you think it would make Ogerpon real happy if we fixed it up first?"

Juliana had still been in a fairly lousy mood up to this point, half of her mind on Kieran. But… seeing Carmine so giddy and enthused was admittedly lifting her spirits a bit. After all, it was an adorable sight.

Carmine's showing more of herself around me… I feel so silly for having judged her so badly just on our first time meeting, and how she was around Kieran.

Kieran…

"Hello!" Juliana was brought out of her thoughts by Carmine lightly knocking her on the head. "Earth to Juliana!"

"Huh? What?"

"Ogerpon! Mask! Real happy! What do ya think!?"

Juliana cleared her throat. Maybe… maybe I just need to focus on one thing at a time, and come back to Kieran later…

"Yeah, s-sounds great," said Juliana. "That… sounds like a really nice thing to do for Ogerpon."

"Mm-hm." Carmine had a sympathetic frown. "Especially now that I've heard the real story… I just want Ogerpon to be happy, you know?" Her voice became lower as she then said, "Nobody deserves to be treated that way after being bullied."

Juliana gulped. There's a story there… isn't there?

"I'm sure Ogerpon will be pleased to know you care so much for it, Carmine," Hideko agreed.

"Right?"

It'll sure feel great to be able to at least someone happy right now… Juliana thought to herself.

"Yeah," she said out loud. "Let's make that our new missi—"

They were interrupted by the sound of the door opening. Juliana winced, and all of her negative energy seemed to return when she saw him again.

"Mornin', Grandpa."

Kieran walked out from the porch and stood there. He didn't address, or even look at, his sister and his new friend.

Juliana felt her legs sinking into the ground. She wasn't sure whether to feel hurt… or relieved, that Kieran wasn't turning his innocent yellow eyes her way.

"Ah, good morning, Kieran," Hideko greeted in a very jovial manner, like he was more pleased than usual to see his grandson.

Carmine marched right up to his face. "Kiki! You'd better go kill time somewhe—"

"Yeah, yeah," he answered, still not looking at anybody. "Do whatever you want, sis."

Carmine seethed. "E-excuse me!? I don't need that kind of attitude from you!"

Without even really thinking about it, Juliana found herself marching up and easing Carmine with her shoulder.

"Carmine… settle down! Please," Juliana pleaded, even to her own surprise.

"Huh!? But I—I-!"

Kieran's face perked up. And for a second, just a split second, his eyes fell on Juliana. They weren't cold daggers like yesterday… but they also weren't the eyes of her happy-go-lucky friend.

He looked away again and just said, "I got stuff to do too, okay?" and walked away without another word or glance at anyone.

Carmine stamped her foot on the ground in frustration.

"What's his problem? He's been all bent out of shape since yesterday."

"I don't know…" said a saddened Hideko. "He spent the whole evening in his room without so much as a bite of dinner."

Juliana's lip quivered. All the feelings of guilt she'd just tried to bury were rising up in her soul again.

Is that because of me…? Because of my lies? He knows that I lied to him, I'm sure of it… What if I just broke our friendship completely by doing it? And… and broke him too.

Carmine meanwhile, just shrugged like it was nothing.

"Must be teen angst or something. It happens!"

Juliana grunted really loudly, surprising both of them.

"Hey…? You alright?"

"Carmine…" Juliana closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Please… just go easy on him, okay? None of this is his fault."

"What are you—I wasn't trying to imply that it was!" Carmine barked away. "He's just… irritating me so much right now!"

"Your friend's right, Carmine," said Hideko. "Whatever Kieran's going through right now, what we need to do is be as patient and compassionate towards him as we can."

"Yeah, fine, I'll apologize to him later or whatever," she said, throwing her arms behind her back.

She saw Juliana fidgeting with her hands, clearly dealing with her regret, and stepped closer to her. "Hey… I know it doesn't seem like it, but we are doing the right thing. It would've been hard to get this stuff done with Kiki still clinging to you. Guess things worked out in our favor!"

Juliana looked at her, unsure. "Worked out in what way?"

With an arrogant smile, Carmine answered, "Now I get to keep you all to myself!"

Now Juliana felt taken aback. "All to… yourself? What do you mean by that!?"

Carmine giggled. "I'm kidding, girlie! I'm kidding! Now let's get moving! The Crystal Pool's all the way at the top of Oni Mountain. I'm… usually not too keen on outsiders heading up there, but I think we can make an exception for you! By this point, you've proven to be slightly less of a nuisance than most outsiders would be."

Yet another half-compliment from Carmine that did funny things to Juliana's serotonin levels… even when the rest of her mind wanted to rebel from that.

"What say you and I go on a hike to nab ourselves a pretty little Crystal Cluster? Last one there has to carry all my stuff!"

And then she took off! Before Juliana knew it, she was already gone around the bend.

Juliana sighed to herself.

Her brain was like a jumbled mix of emotions right now. She still felt turmoiled emotions over everything going on with Kieran. There was still that little bit of self-loathing that just didn't want to seem to let go.

But at the same time, a hike up the mountain sounded like a great way to help clear her troubled mind. And time alone with Carmine…

Juliana couldn't place it, but being with Carmine was making her increasingly feel warm things. Just that conversation had her mind jumping with joy at how many strides she'd seemed to be making in breaking down Carmine's walls.

That was enough for her to come to a decision.

Alright… my focus right now is just on getting crystals to help Ogerpon, and enjoying a nice hike with my friend. And then, afterwards… I'll have time to think of a way to make it up to Kieran.

She started to head out herself, hoisting her cinch bag, when she heard Carmine's grandfather softly clear his throat to get her attention.

"Juliana… can I ask you a favor?"

"Of course, sir," Juliana answered, intrigued. "What is it?"

"Watch Carmine's back while you're out there on the mountain, please. She gets a little… over-confident sometimes. When she gets really determined and wants something, she acts like she's invincible. The last thing I want is for her to get too reckless and hurt herself."

Juliana sagely nodded. "Crystal clear. I'll look out for her, I promise."

Hideko chuckled a bit. "Still… it is great to see her this motivated. She won't say anything of it, but I think she's been in a bit of rut lately with whatever she has going on at school. But lately, it's been like she's found her drive again. I think you're making a very good impression on her."

This made Juliana giggle a bit, a feeling she definitely needed.

"You know… I think, I think she's making an impression on me too."

"Hm-hm!" Hideko smiled warmly at her. "Thank you very sincerely, Juliana. For being friends with both my grandchildren."

Juliana smiled and nodded, and… with a newfound stride in her step, she took off towards the mountain to catch up with Carmine.

"Oh man! This is great! Feel that burn on your calves, Juliana?"

"I'm… feeling it alright."

Juliana's legs felt like jelly. But not because of how far up the mountain they'd hiked. She'd learned the hard way that Carmine wasn't kidding about making her carry stuff.

Juliana struggled to walk with something much heavier than just her cinch bag on her back. Carmine had an entire hiker's backpack stuffed with camping equipment, which Carmine didn't even seem to need apart from the water bottle she'd snagged and was carrying with her anyway.

She took a swig of it and went, "Mmmm, now that quenches the thirst real good!"

"Not supposing I'm allowed a sip?"

"Woof… I don't know, I'm working up such a sweat here." Carmine feigned fatigue, fanning herself. "Tell ya what, if I get to the point where I feel properly hydrated, I'll let you have a drop or two. … Unless I drink it all, which is possible."

I'm starting to think it would've only been slightly less painful to hang back with Kieran… Juliana mused to herself. How does Arven do this everywhere he goes?

Unlike her, Carmine had a huge spring in her step. She cheerfully jumped rocks on the path, flipped her hair with the wind, and even did a few Mightyena yells out in the open.

For as much as Juliana was feeling the physical toll on her admittedly sleep-deprived body, seeing this side of Carmine was helping mitigate the pain somewhat. After several days of Carmine being easily irritated and antsy about everything, Juliana felt a sense of joy seeing the girl acting much happier and closer to being herself.

She decided an even better way to foster these good vibes was with conversation.

"So… you really love hiking, don't you?"

Carmine laughed. "Anyone who wants to survive out here in this harsh land has to learn to love the hike, you naïve city girl. But yeah, I've loved hiking and camping out in the woods since I was a little girl! It's when I've always felt the most free, like the true wild girl that I am at heart!"

She had both her fists out and pumped one in the air, which made Juliana giggle.

"What?" Carmine reacted. "You makin' fun of me or something?"

"No, not at all! It's just…" Juliana smiled to herself. "You, you acted just like a friend of mine. That's all. She's… a bit of a wild girl too."

"Ohh, no wonder you've been clinging so hard to me. You've got a type." Carmine winked at her.

"I—I do not. Just… similar taste in friends, I suppose," Juliana defended.

"Heh! I'm kidding. It was worth it to see how red your face got. Anyway, if you've really got a friend who can let loose just as much as me, tell her to call me up. I've always wanted someone besides Kiki to go camping with."

Juliana stopped so short she almost let the heavy backpack's physics send her forward. That was a puzzling admission.

"You've… never gone camping with friends before? Not even here in Kitakami?"

"Nah. Kiki and I drew the short stick when we moved in with our grandparents here. We were basically the only kids in the whole village. And by the time other people started having kids… ech. Their parents had already grown to consider me a 'bad influence' because having too much fun in Mossui Town is a crime apparently," Carmine explained with a grim smile.

"But… ngh!" Juliana grunted a bit, struggling to keep the bag upright. "You go to another school in a whole different region now, with plenty of kids. Nobody there likes to go camping?"

This garnered a very biting, sardonic laugh from Carmine. "You flunking geography or something, Juliana? Take a look at a map of Unova and tell me if you spot a lot of campsites there."

"Oh… I've only seen a map of the Unova region once. It's a lot of big cities and harsh mountains, right?"

"Yeah. There is ONE neck of woods called the Pinwheel Forest, which might be a great place to rough it up if it wasn't closed off because of those Team Plasma guys being jerks," she grumbled. "And the only other forest is considered 'forbidden' because Unovites are a bunch of chumps who spread fairy tales about people getting lost in there and monsters hiding."

Carmine stopped for a second and sighed.

"Not for lack of trying, either. I took the big girl initiative and tried to start my own camping club when I was first starting at Blueberry Junior Academy!"

"Oh! I never thought starting a club before." For a brief second, Juliana started thinking about what club she would want to join or even start if she was back at school.

"Ha ha," came another sarcastic laugh. "Well don't try that in a Unova school. All the kids there just thought camping sounded stupid and gross and made fun of me for it. For years, I got picked on as the weirdo jungle kid who was obsessed with camping and wanted to get eaten by a Zoroark."

"Yikes!" said a stunned Juliana. "That sounds rough."

"Starting to get why I don't like you city kids so much, and don't want your snotty vibes infesting my haven of nature?" Carmine teased.

Yeah, this whole 'outsider' stuff does make a little more sense now…

"I'm sorry, Carmine. I never knew you had it so bad…"

Carmine whipped around, looking offended. "Hey! Do I look like I need your pity? 'Cause I don't. Yeah, everyone made fun of me. So you know what I did? I tossed my weak emotions aside and started making fun of them back! That's right, I learned how to be a big girl. Those years are what toughened me up and made me a beacon of brilliance who takes no guff from anybody!"

Juliana still frowned at this story. "That… doesn't sound like a healthy way to grow up to me."

Carmine didn't speak for a few seconds, her back was to Juliana again. She glanced over her shoulder with a much more bitter look.

"Yeah? Well… I'll tell ya what. Fitting in by dishing it all back was a lot better than just being ignored and mocked by everyone. That's why I don't like your smile."

"Huh?"

"Because I think you're a lot like me, shortie… how I was back then. You're all smiles and 'let's be nice to each other' now… but something's gonna break you one of these days. That's why I feel sorry for you. You probably won't even see it coming."

She kept on walking, but didn't hear anything behind her besides whimpering.

Carmine turned around in surprise… but Juliana wasn't crying like she suspected. She was trying to keep her wobbly legs from buckling. Sweat was trickling down her face, and she seemed completely immobilized by the weight. Carmine wasn't sure if Juliana had even been listening to her.

"Ugh!" she grunted dramatically. "Fine. Hand that to me, you hopeless twig."

Carmine gently relieved Juliana of the backpack and effortlessly hoisted it over her own shoulders like it was nothing.

"Impressed?" Carmine boasted, noticing her reaction. "Maybe now you can use those legs, and achieve an ounce of the amazing Secret Power that I possess!"

She continued hiking onward, seemingly unaffected by the bag's weight. Juliana took a second to follow, not just in awe of Carmine's apparently inhuman back strength, but also to process that while Carmine boasted of having gotten rid of her 'weak' emotions, she was clearly being compassionate just there.

I think your niceness isn't as gone as you want to think it is…

Taking a moment to stretch out her back, Juliana found herself looking up. Even though they were reaching the highest peak of Oni Mountain, there were still a few small clifftops where, if the ogre—Ogerpon was still watching over them like it had been earlier, she was likely to spot it.

But Juliana didn't see a single trace of it.

Without its mask, it must have gone all the way back to its den to hide…

Poor thing.

"Get a load of this view!"

"Woah…"

"Bet you didn't expect it to be so pretty, huh?"

The Crystal Pool was an even more awe-inspiring sight than Juliana was prepared for.

It was more than just a mountaintop lake. It was an absolutely pristine, sparkling body of water. A bunch of crystallized clusters could be seen submerged within the pool, sending out twinkles of light through the streams.

The air felt much clearer compared to the steamy atmosphere of the Infernal Pass below, and the wind that blew through Juliana's hair felt like it was twinkling with some sort of amazing power. Juliana was feeling a strange sense of homeliness from it.

As she knelt down to look deeper at the crystals within the pool, she realized exactly why they, and the air, were all so familiar to her.

"These Crystals! They're exactly like the crystals I see all the time in Tera Pokémon's dens back home! It's like this whole place has the same energy as Paldea! This might explain why Pokémon in Kitakami can Terastallize!"

"Tch. You about done rubbing in that the most special thing we got here is an everyday sight for you?"

Carmine started telling Juliana rumors about how the Crystal Pool is said to have enchanting powers that allows you to meet spirits of the deceased. Juliana wasn't sure if these rumors had any real basis or if Carmine was just trying to one-up her.

…Carmine then went on to jokingly urge Juliana to swim into the channel to retreieve the Crystal Clusters they needed.

"I can't swim! And besides, my clothes would get soaked if I did it. So c'mon, just hop in!"

At least, Juliana hoped that she was joking. But she didn't get a chance to verify before they suddenly heard a loud rumble from the water.

Much to their shock, a large aquatic serpentine Pokémon, which Carmine identified as a Milotic, appeared from the water and engaged the two of them.

"This one looks really strong!" Carmine turned to Juliana. "You're awful lucky that I'm around."

Thankfully, with the combined efforts of Juliana's Floragato and Carmine's Morpeko, they were able to send the shimmering Milotic back into the water, but not before dropping something.

"Hey, is that…?"

Juliana picked it up. "Looks like what I would expect a Crystal Cluster to look like!"

"Great! Mission complete!" Carmine struck a pose by raising her fist in the air while jumping on one leg. Juliana burst out snickering, which made her blush. "You… you didn't see that."

After sitting for a few minutes to catch their breath (and so that Carmine had an excuse to actually use the blanket she'd packed) they got ready to head out. Carmine even let Juliana have the rest of her water bottle.

Juliana got all of her stuff in order… but when she looked over at Carmine, the girl was standing at the edge of the shore, looking out into the water.

"Hey." Juliana approached her. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just… reminiscing." Carmine continued staring out. "Y'know… I saw a Milotic a long time ago. I saw it jump over a waterfall when I was a little girl. Nobody I told it to believed me but… I'll never forget how majestic it looked. So gorgeous, so free…"

She started to smile.

"I think that's the day I decided… I wanted to be just as beautiful and free as that Milotic."

"…But you are beautiful!"

Carmine spun around. "W-what did you say!?" Her face was fully flushed.

Juliana reared back, looking equally as shocked that she said that.

"I—I—don't…"

Both of them now looked like they were competing for who had the reddest face.

Juliana gulped. "It's… it's true though. You're just as pretty as that Milotic, Carmine. You really are."

…

Carmine started laughing.

"Alright! You really got me there! Ha ha! You'll say anything just to avoid having to carry all my stuff on the way back down, won't you, you little manipulator you? C'mon! Let's get this back to Gramps!"

Juliana just rolled her eyes and hoisted her cinch bag. She used the sleeve of her jinbei to wick off a few beads of sweat from her face.

Carmine looked over her shoulder to see if Juliana was looking, and had her face over her mouth.

"Y'know, you're pretty handy to have around in a battle," Carmine noted as the two approached town. "I could've used you by my side when we were doing 2v2's at the League Club in Blueberry." She chuckled. "If only to make me look even prettier anyway!"

Juliana blushed. "You don't need my help there."

"Ooh, ever the little flatterer today, aren't we? Little city girl's getting bolder the more I latch onto ya!"

The two laughed heartily. It made Juliana feel good, she felt like she and Carmine were getting ever closer to sharing a real connection.

"Better you got to hang out with me today rather than deal with Kiki's teen issues, huh?"

Juliana stopped.

Kieran.

She'd nearly forgotten about all that.

Carmine looked behind her at some point and realized Juliana had her feet planted.

"Huh? What's with you?"

Juliana closed her eyes. She was trying to work up the desire to say something. Finally, she looked at Carmine very maturely.

"Carmine… we need to talk."

She snickered. "What about?" Then she saw how serious Juliana looked and dropped the coolness. "Yeah, what about?"

"Look. About Kieran…"

She squinted her eyes shut again. Then she opened them again.

"I think we should tell him the whole truth."

"What!?" Carmine dashed over with a panicked look, and quickly glanced around to make sure nobody was listening. "Are you crazy!? Did you literally forget everything we talked about?"

"This isn't right!" Juliana decided. "He should've been with us today. He should know everything."

"Yeah, he should know everything so he can go blab it to everyone and get himself and possibly our whole family into trouble with the townspeople!" she argued back. "You remember what Gramps said! Did you lose some brain cells on that hike or something?"

"Yeah, but… You saw how he is…"

"He's fine!" Carmine declared. "He's just going through one of his moods or something, that's all! When he's much older we'll look back on this and laugh, and he'll understand why we did what we did!"

Juliana sighed. "Carmine… you know how much he loves the ogre. Shouldn't—shouldn't he be there with us when we go back up to the mountain to give Ogerpon its mask back?"

This gave Carmine pause, before she stubbornly grunted.

"Look. You don't know Kiki, okay? I know you think you do because you two have been all pally for the past three days. But I've literally known him his entire life. He's… he's really prone to doing rash things and jumping into something without thinking it through, no matter how dangerous it is. And he's way too trusting of people. I've spent my whole life protecting him. Making sure he doesn't get hurt by his own stubbornness."

…

"Kieran trusts you, right?"

"Of course he does! More than anything in the world! He knows I'm always right."

"Then, shouldn't you repay the favor… and trust him back? You trusted me with your grandpa's story And I'm just the no-good outsider, remember? He's your brother."

…

Carmine didn't know how to respond to that.

"Surely… surely if we all sat down together, your grandpa too, explained the whole thing to him, tell him why it's important to keep this all a secret… Don't you think he would understand?"

She still didn't have a response. But her saddened face indicated to Juliana that she was listening.

"Look… I'm sorry. But I don't…" Against her attempts to keep it in, Juliana found herself beginning to snivel. "Carmine, I can't lie to him anymore."

Carmine looked concerned and reached a hand out. "Hey…"

"I just can't. I couldn't sleep at all last night because I felt so awful about it. I still feel terrible about it right now. He's my friend! It's just… it's not fair. What we're doing. It would just be a lot better if we told him the truth."

Juliana felt her eyes welling up but fought to keep the tears in as much as she could. She motioned for Carmine's hand, and grasped it in hers.

"Please, Carmine… you're my friend too. You guys both are. I just want to make things right. We need to tell him together, and then figure out what to do. Okay?"

"I… I…"

Then Juliana went for the nuclear option: the big old puppy eyes.

"YOU…!" Carmine tried to seethe in response, but… she threw her head back and grunted. "Fine. Fine. You win, okay? Simmer it down now."

Juliana's sadness turned off like a light, and she jumped for joy.

"Yay! I knew you'd see it my way!"

"Okay. Next time we see Kiki… I—We'll get him to the house with Grandpa and… we'll tell him all about the ogre, okay? I guess… I guess we do owe that much to him." She gave Juliana a stern look. "But if anything happens, and Kiki gets hurt… I'm putting all the blame squarely on you."

"Crystal clear!" Juliana saluted with a merry grin.

"Grrrrrrr," was Carmine's only response.

They had just reached Carmine's house again. Carmine went through the gate to tell her grandpa the good news, while Juliana stood for a few seconds to wipe away her wet eyes.

She looked hopeful again. Maybe… maybe this time we can finally do it all right, and we can all see Ogerpon as friends together…

But she was taken out of her delight when she saw Carmine running back to her frantically.

"You still think Kiki wouldn't do anything rash, huh!?" Carmine raged at her. "You didn't tell him about the ogre on your own, did you!?"

"No, I-I haven't said a word!" Juliana defended. "I promised! And told you everything about how terrible I felt! Remember?"

"Right, I'm sorry…" Carmine tried to calm herself. "I know you wouldn't just go blabbing to him like that."

"Why? What's happened!?"

Carmine growled. "Kiki took off with the mask!"

"WHAT!?"

Chapter Text

"The Loyal Three were the real bad guys, but the ogre's the one that gets treated like an outcast!"

Kieran gazed bitterly at the Loyal Three's monument in the center of Loyalty Plaza. The stone structure displayed statues of the three Pokémon as fallen heroes, with hand-knitted purple accessories bestowed upon them, ostensibly a symbol of the community's continuing support for the trio and their "noble" sacrifice.

Carmine and Juliana stood several feet away, having tailed Kieran to the Plaza after finding out he had stolen the ogre's mask from his grandfather's workbench.

"You… you really knew?" said Carmine.

Kieran turned around and angrily faced the both of them.

"And you two did the same thing to me!" He balled up his fist in immense rage. "You treated ME like an outcast when you went an' met with the ogre!"

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean—" Carmine blubbered.

"Kieran, it's—it's not like that at all!" Juliana exclaimed.

"You acted like you didn't know anything Juliana, but you were laughing at me behind my back all along!"

"That's not what happened at all!" Carmine defended her friend.

"Kieran, I promise you, I wanted to tell you from the beginning!" Juliana all poured her heart out to him. "Carmine and I literally just decided that we were gonna tell you the whole truth and have you come with us to give Ogerpon its mask together! I swear it!"

The glare in Kieran's eyes intensified as he locked onto Juliana's pleading face.

"Liar!" Kieran screamed. "You're a LIAR! You do nothing but LIE!"

"N-no!"

Juliana could feel the tears coming up again, and it was much harder to stop them this time.

"You… I thought you were cool. I thought you were the first person to finally understand me. But you're no different from the villagers back then…"

Juliana desperately tried to wipe her eyes to keep them dry. But when she stopped to look again, Kieran's eyes were cutting through her like daggers.

"My sis was right about outsiders this whole time. I should've never trusted you."

"No…"

Now at this moment… Juliana didn't feel like crying anymore. In fact, she was struggling to feel anything.

Her legs completely shut down. And she collapsed onto her lap, her pupils shrunken and her face trembling in a complete state of shock. Her face sunk and she slumped over completely like a robot losing its batteries.

Carmine ran in front of Juliana.

"That's ENOUGH, Kiki! I don't know what's going on with you today, but it needs to stop now!"

Kieran started furiously ruffling his hair.

"Why, sis!? Why are you standing up for her instead of me? You lie to me all the time, and you love makin' fun of me for your own kicks."

Carmine was horrified. "Kiki! That's—that's not—"

"But you Juliana… WHY!?" He barked at her again. Juliana didn't respond at all, like she had completely disassociated with the world. "You promised not to lie to me, and then you DID! Why would you lead me on like that!? This whole time, I really thought you were my—I was gonna tell you that I, I—"

"Kiki, stop blaming Juliana! It's not her fault at all!" Carmine interrupted. "If you're gonna be angry at someone, be angry at me, okay!? I was the one who told Juliana to keep our meeting with Ogerpon a secret! And I told her to lie because I didn't know how much this would all affect you! I just, I just wanted to stop you from doing anything rash… LIKE THIS! So… so just stop all this foolishness right now, okay?"

Carmine could feel her eyes getting watery too, despite trying to be brave. She had never had an argument with Kieran this visceral before in all the years they grew up together, and was still struggling to comprehend how she had let things get this bad.

Kieran for his part, just started trembling harder. Both of his fists were balled up as tightly as could be now.

"You already know how I felt," he grumbled. "Not just about the ogre, but everything! You wouldn't let me have anything… You just want everything I love for yourself! How could you do this to me? How could you both be so selfish and uncaring!?"

Carmine fretted, trying not to let her own tears fall and look weak in front of her brother.

"Kiki… I swear, if I could apologize for a thousand suns I would. I'm so sorry! I didn't know this is how you felt. I would do anything, anything to make it up to you!"

"…"

Kieran shut his eyes. He tried to get a handle on all the blind rage he felt. It was strangely hard for him to see past the dark thorns in his head. He finally had an idea, and opened his eyes again with a look of steely determination.

"Battle me."

"Me, battle you? Is that really what you—"

"Not you, sis," he said, shaking his head. He pointed at Juliana. "You."

Juliana, still trembling on the ground, slowly lifted her head up, revealing black streaks going down her face.

"I want a battle with you, Juliana. To prove who really deserves to meet the ogre."

…

Juliana didn't respond. Carmine looked at her with concern, not sure if the poor girl was even on the same planet right now.

"C'mon Kiki, cut it out… This is getting really weird."

But Kieran just stared at Juliana with a crazed look in his eyes, seemingly oblivious to his sister's pleas.

"If you win, I'll give back the mask. So come on, battle me." There was no response. "Battle me!" he yelled.

"Kiki, stop!" Carmine stepped forward and shielded Juliana with her arm. "If you want a battle so badly, then I'll battle you right here."

"What!? Sis? What are you doing?"

Carmine readied one of her Poké Balls. "If it's a battle for the mask you want, then pull out your best."

Kieran was distraught. "Sis! Why? Why do you keep ruining everything!? I need to prove that I'm the strongest!" He started frantically ruffling his hair again. "And you always beat me in a battle!"

"Then let's see how badly you want this, little bro!"

"NO!" came a sudden shout.

Carmine and Kieran both jumped, and whipped their heads Juliana's way.

Juliana slowly and calmly stood up. She wiped the mascara running down her face, and pulled her head up.

"Both of you, stop. There's not going to be a battle."

"Y-you don't get to decide that!" Kieran stammered, trying to maintain control. "I'm the one who has the ogre's mask! T-that means I'm in control!"

"Kieran… no," Juliana said firmly again. "You're upset. And I know why you're upset. But a battle isn't going to prove anything. If I win, you'll just be more upset. And if you win..." She sighed. "I know you. You'll give us the mask back anyway, because you've got a good heart Kieran… and you know how much this means to the ogre."

"What?" Kieran said meekly.

Juliana maintained an assertive tone. "So come on. Just give us the mask back and let's put us all this behind this."

Carmine was stunned. Wow… where's this girl been the whole time?

"I—I—"

Juliana made her eyes glossy. "Please. You're my friend."

"…"

"…"

"DARN IT!"

With a great sense of reluctance, Kieran drew out the mask he'd been holding behind his mask… and without another word, walked over to Juliana.

He held out the mask. Juliana received it, and smiled at Kieran.

"Thank you."

Carmine was at a complete loss for words. She looked captivated by what she just saw.

She… she convinced him to back down? Just like that? No battle, just… words!? I didn't know she could be so forward…

"Juliana… That was, incredible…" she breathlessly said out loud. Her cheeks went red when she realized Juliana could hear her.

"Aw… man…" Kieran looked completely downtrodden. "Why does… nothing go right for me? All I wanted was a battle to prove I'm strong enough… That I'm worthy of the ogre…"

Carmine and Kieran both looked at him with intense sympathy—no, pity.

Juliana reached her hand out. "Kieran, I—"

"Aaaagh!"

Kieran yelled out of nowhere and ruffled his hair some more. Then, he ran over to the monument. Suddenly, much to both their surprise, he punched the stone monument with his fist.

Juliana gasped.

Unseen by both her and Carmine, when Kieran's fist made contact, a small burst of purple mist emanated from his hand.

…Then he pulled it away and clutched it in pain.

"Owww…"

"Kiki, are you alright…?" Carmine asked out of concern.

Kieran gritted his teeth.

"Just… just say hi to the ogre for me, okay?"

"What!?"

"Kieran…" Juliana lamented.

"Hey, listen Kiki…" said Carmine. "I should apologize for—"

"I told you already, just go! Just leave me here and—"

He was interrupted by a sudden rumbling sensation that seemed to overtake the whole Plaza.

"What the…?" Carmine reacted. "Did you guys hear that?"

Another rumble almost shook them off their feet.

"It's—it's coming from that statue, I think!" Juliana pointed.

Suddenly, the entire Loyal Three monument began to shake and rumble. The statues in the center shook most intensely of all, as a strange and sudden purple aura began to shine around them.

Kieran fell to the ground in shock.

"What's happening? Di—did I do that?"

"KIKI, LOOK OUT!"

Carmine ran to Kieran and pulled him away just in time as the aura overloaded, and the entire monument suddenly burst as a beam of bright purple light shot into the air.

All three of them covered their eyes and yelled at the sudden event happening right in front of them. The explosion of light covered a huge portion of Loyalty Plaza where the monument stood, before finally dissipating.

Juliana and the siblings all coughed and tried clearing the air as it filled with dust and particles of debris.

"Wh—what's going on?" Carmine shouted over all the noise and the dust.

Eventually, the dust cleared out… revealing a very peculiar sight.

The monument to the Loyal Three had been completely destroyed in the blast, only the stone fence surrounding it remained.

And in its place… stood three very strange looking Pokémon.

"What… what are those things?" Juliana wondered.

The largest of the three Pokémon sniffed the air loudly, getting a grasp of its surroundings. Then, as the dust cleared, the three Pokémon spotted the human witnesses and took a mighty pose.

The largest, a dog-like Pokémon with green markings, flexed its might. A small monkey-like Pokémon with blue markings crossed its arms and hissed haughtily. The third, a large bird Pokémon with long pink eyelashes, spread its splendid wings and chirped.

All three of them were primarily black, casting a very mischievous aura, and had purple-colored bands wrapped around themselves in various positions that almost appeared like broken chains.

They all stood proudly atop the remains of the monument.

"Huh? Huh!? What in the world!?" Carmine was rendered speechless and confused.

"What's happening? Wh-what are they!?" a frightened Kieran cried.

Julina gazed upon this trio of mysterious Pokémon, and immediately noticed something familiar about them.

"They look… just like the statues from that monument… Is it… possible?"

"Wh… Noooo!" Carmine said in disbelief. "You're not trying to suggest that they're—"

"The Loyal Three!?" Kieran uttered.

"Bu—but that's impossible!"

The trio of Pokémon seemed to respond to Kieran bestowing that title upon them by chortling with great brashness.

"Grrrific!" the dog-like one boasted.

"Mmmkay?" the monkey-like one pondered.

"Yip-ip-ippy…" the bird-like one graciously bowed.

"They're unbelievable…" said Kieran.

"They're majestic …" Juliana marveled.

"They're supposed to be DEAD!" Carmine growled. "Quit gawking at them! How are they even alive!?" She addressed the trio. "Wh-what do you want?"

The three Pokémon turned around, huddling up like a football team, and even seemed to start whispering among each other.

"What are they doing…?" Carmine wondered.

"I hope you didn't make them want to attack us…" Kieran worried.

The three Pokémon faced the three Trainers again, all gave a mighty cry once more… and then took off in the other direction, far past Loyalty Plaza, with the bird-like one sailing through the air and the other two running down the hills.

"Well… that was something you don't see every day," was all Juliana could say.

"Seriously, WHAT is going on!?" Carmine shouted.

"You're right, that's gotta be the Loyal Three…" Kieran concluded, still off his feet. "The stories said they were laid to rest right under those statues, and—and we just saw 'em pop outta there!"

"So what brought them back to life?" asked Carmine. She put a finger to her head, trying to think, but then she realized she could still see them in the distance. "Wait, they're headed towards Kitakami Hall!"

"Are they going after the townspeople?"

"Maybe they want something…" said Kieran.

Carmine tried to think. "But what would they want in Kitakami Hall? The only treasures being stored at the Kitakami Hall temple are… oh no," she suddenly realized. "We need to get going."

"Huh? Why?" Juliana demanded to know.

"No time to explain, I'll tell you on the way! Come on!"

Carmine took off running towards the entrance. Juliana started to follow, but noticed Kieran was still sitting on the ground.

"Kieran…?"

Kieran sat motionless, staring at the destroyed statue.

"…You two should just go," he said quietly. "I'll only s-slow ya down. Besides… I yelled at you. So I totally understand if you hate me now."

…

"Juliana! Let's go!" Carmine shouted from a distance. "We're wasting time!"

"Kieran…"

Juliana knelt down beside her friend.

"That's silly talk."

"What?"

"Nothing you say or do could make me hate you. I'm… I was upset that you yelled at me. And I want to talk things out later. But, even when we have our fights, I'll still be with you to the end. That's the promise I made… being your friend. And, and this time it's a promise I will keep."

She held her hand out. Kieran looked upon it, unsure.

"So come on. Let's go kick some Loyal Three butt!"

Eventually, but cautiously, Kieran reached his hand out and accepted Juliana's.

She smiled.

Carmine watched from a distance, amazed.

"S-seriously, how do you do that?"

I never knew she had such an assertive side to her. It's… kinda… Carmine fiercely shook her head. FOCUS, GIRL!

"C'mon, you two! We need to gooooooo!"

"That big one, it's gotta be Okidogi!" Kieran huffed. "The legends about it say it can pulverize anything!"

"Then the little one … what was its name?" Juliana gasped. "Munkidori? Supposed to have a really big brain?"

"That means the big flying one has to be Fezandipiti! The legends weren't kidding, it's almost as gorgeous as me!"

Juliana, Carmine, and Kieran all rushed to Kitakami Hall as fast as they could, only to discover that the Loyal Three—or the Lousy Three as Carmine had taken to calling them, had already come and left.

Adding to their bad luck, Nao and the rest of the elders cheerfully admitted to welcoming the three Pokémon upon their arrival, who'd come to recollect three of the shining masks stored within the Kitakami Hall's sacred temple.

The caretaker had even given them a platter of special Mochi, packed with sacred Kitakami herbs, to help the beasts regain their strength!

Juliana and Kieran were horrified. Carmine looked like she was going to throw hands with everyone.

"If they've got three of the masks that belonged to the ogre…" Kieran gasped. "The next place they'll probably wanna go is to the Dreaden Den looking for the last one!"

"And to get revenge on that poor defenseless creature!" Carmine bristled. "Come on, all of you! We're going to Oni Mountain!"

"A-all of us?"

"Yes, Kiki, all of us! Let's go!"

"Woah… watch out!"

Kieran halted both Carmine and Juliana in their tracks as they approached the Dreaded Den… and made it to the very thin land bridge connecting the hidden grotto with the rest of the mountain.

"Oh… that's right," Juliana remembered. "Forgot how thin this path is."

"Wait…" Carmine blinked in surprise. "Have you two… been up here before? This place is forbidden!"

Kieran looked like a deer in headlights. "Uhhh…"

"I-I suggested we visit the Dreaded Den," Juliana claimed. "Cause Kieran was so excited to see it, and… I didn't know it was forbidden! So… that's my bad."

Kieran was surprised, and to be honest so was Juliana. That was the most natural that lying had ever come to her.

"You… took my little brother somewhere dangerous?" Carmine reacted a little angrily. "Well… we've got more important things to worry about for now, but after we've banished those jerks back underground… I don't care how cute you are, I'm not going to let that one go. Now let me go first."

Carmine started crossing the land bridge slowly, with Juliana and Kieran slowly following.

Kieran, now feeling an immense sense of guilt, quietly said "psst" to get Juliana's attention.

"Hey… t-thanks."

"It's okay," Juliana whispered. "I'd rather I be in trouble with Carmine than you, and spoil your secret."

"I… Uh…" Kieran fidgeted awkwardly with his hands. "Listen… A-about the mask. I, I just got so angry…" His face shied away. "I got into my own head… And said a lot of mean things. What I did was real dumb. And… and…"

Juliana patiently listened. Finally, he sighed.

"I'm real sorry. I didn't mean to be so terrible t'ya…"

Juliana nodded. "Apology accepted. I'm sorry too, for breaking my promise and lying to you." She held out her pinky. "Still friends?"

Kieran paused cautiously, but returned the gesture. "Y-yeah. 'Course. Thanks, Juliana."

"Ponnnoooo!"

They heard a sudden child-like cry, and all three hastened their pace to cross the bridge where they saw a terrifying sight.

The Lousy Three had beaten them to the Den, and they were all standing menacingly in a circle. The frightened and defenseless Ogerpon was cowering between all of them, looking worn out as if it had already taken a couple swipes.

"Grragh…"

They were each wearing one of the three masks taken from Kitakami Hall, and growled at Ogerpon while wearing them, as if trying to taunt the poor creature.

Okidogi raised its fist, ostensibly about to take a swing at their past tormentor, when…

"Knock it off, all of you!"

Carmine was the one to shout it, gaining the Lousy Three's attention, as the three of them ran up to defend Ogerpon.

"You were trying to go three against one on that poor ogre, huh? I guess a fair fight's too much to expect from you jerks! But now that we're here…" Carmine raised her fists and proclaimed, "We'll make you regret ever coming back to life!"

"That's right!" Juliana chimed in.

"Y-yeah…"

All three of them sent out their Pokémon to do battle. Juliana's Floragato, Kieran's Dipplin, and Carmine's Poltchageist all faced up to the three bullies and cried war.

Munkidori bristled uneasily and seemingly motioned the other two to hear its next devious plan, and they could hear it make whispering noises again.

The three Trainers all reacted in shock as the Lousy Three started charging towards them… only to run past them completely away from the den, still wearing the masks on their faces.

"Ah—they ran away!" said Kieran. "…Thank goodness."

"Hmph!" Carmine flipped her hair. "I guess I'm too much for them to handle!"

Juliana cupped her hands together and laughed, which made Carmine feel a bit bashful.

"Y'know… it sure is a good thing that worked," Kieran dwelled.

"Why's that?" asked Juliana.

"Well, I remember reading in the old legends, umm, all three of them are supposed to pack a lot of strong Posion attacks."

"Yeah? So?"

"…We all sent out our Grass-type Pokémon."

Juliana and Carmine's eyes widened.

"You're right."

Carmine coughed. "That's a… that's a good thing they didn't call our bluff then, isn't it?"

"Pon pon! Pon pon!"

Their attention was drawn to the childlike chant from their adorable rescuee.

The Mask Pokémon Ogerpon gathered its strength to slowly stand up. Now Juliana could see up close its unique features: its little black feet wrapped in leaves that made them look sandal-like. Its bright green, grassy cloak wrapping around its arms like a warm blanket. Its distinctive black horns, long and sharp but nowhere near comparable to something like say, a Gogoat.

But most of all, Juliana was starstruck, for lack of a better word, at Ogerpon's round yellow face. Its cute, tiny little fangs. And its twinkling, literal star-shaped eyes that bestowed the Pokémon an appearance not that of a terrifying monster, but that of a small, innocent playful creature.

Juliana had never seen anything like it. Nothing as unique, nor especially so heart-meltingly adorable.

"You must be the cutest Pokémon I've ever—"

"Oh. My. Gosh." Carmine suddenly threw her hands together and jumped up and down. "You are so much more adorable up close!"

Juliana calmly walked over to the joyous but slightly timid Ogerpon. She made sure not to approach it too closely, and then knelt down on one knee.

"Your name's Ogerpon, right? You're safe now," Juliana reassured it, like talking to a small child. She then looked mournful. "I'm sorry we couldn't get your masks back."

Ogerpon looked downtrodden for a second, but shook its cloak vibrantly and smiled at Juliana, as if to let her know that it still appreciated their timely intervention.

Carmine, taking this as her safe signal to approach, dashed over and squeed in delight.

"Ohhh, I simply can't resist how cute you are, you precious little thing!"

Ogerpon jumped in shock, but Juliana's snorted giggling seemed to placate it.

"Carmine. Friend," she explained, fighting back her laughter. Showing yet another new side of herself!

"You're absolutely perfect. Just like me! Both creatures of unparalleled beauty."

Ogerpon gasped, and then blushed. Carmine giggled at her advanced flattery techniques.

"I think this little ogre and I will get along just fine!" she smiled.

Ogerpon smiled too and jumped for joy.

Juliana and Carmine both turned, and then stepped aside, noticing that Kieran was hanging back and fidgeting nervously.

"Well… come on then, Kiki!"

Kieran gulped. "Ya—ya sure?"

Juliana nodded. "You wanted to meet Ogerpon right? Now's your chance."

He cautiously stepped forward. Ogerpon made a noise reacting to the presence of another. Slowly but surely, a smile began to curl on Kieran's lips.

"It's really you… The real-life ogre…"

Ogerpon tilted its head and made a questioning cry, unsure if this other visitor was friend or foe. It seemed to turn to Juliana for affirmation, who nodded warmly.

Then Kieran found himself chuckling in delight.

"Wowzers… you're really something!"

"Oh!" Juliana remembered. "We've got a surprise for you!"

"Pon pon?"

Juliana reached into their bag for something… then thoughtfully, she stopped.

"Hey… Kieran?"

"Huh?"

Juliana motioned for him to come over… and then she lifted something into his hands.

"I think… you should be the one to give the mask back to Ogerpon."

Kieran was taken aback. "Y-you want me to do it?" Juliana nodded once more. "Wowzers… thanks, Juliana."

He graciously accepted Ogerpon's newly repaired Teal Mask and slowly walked over to Ogerpon.

"This is for you… dear ogre," he said, humbly bowing to the small Pokémon.

"Pon?" Ogerpon approached slowly and realized what Kieran was holding, and jumped up and down happily. "Pon pon! Pon pon!"

Kieran giggled.

Ogerpon reached out with its cloak-covered appendages to take the mask. But… as it did, something seemed wrong. Ogerpon gazed up at Kieran again, but in that moment seemed to sense… something off. Like a bad aura of some sort subtly radiating in the air.

And a smell that tickled the ogre's nose in an unpleasant way.

"Gah… Grrr…"

Suddenly, Ogerpon took a step back from the boy holding its mask, and began growling timidly at Kieran, as if telling him not to approach any closer.

"H-huh?" Kieran's face dropped.

"It seems… scared?" Carmine observed. "Maybe it's not good with new people, Kiki."

"Oh, because it already saw the two of us at the festival," Juliana agreed. "…Maybe you're right."

"…"

Kieran didn't respond for a few seconds, seeming glum. He took a moment to exhale. With a sad face, he looked over at Juliana.

"I'm sorry… I appreciate what ya did, but… I guess it won't take the mask back if it's from me. You—you should be the one to do it, Juliana."

He held out the Teal Mask to her. Juliana frowned, mortified that her kind gesture had only created more sadness.

Wordlessly, she accepted the Teal Mask from Kieran… and held it out to Ogerpon.

Ogerpon stopped trembling and looked at the mask again. It looked at Juliana, like it was scanning her for something.

And just like that, the ogre was suddenly smiling again, and took the mask. Although the three young Trainers had found the Teal Mask somewhat heavy, Ogerpon gleefully plopped the mask onto its face like it weighed nothing.

The Teal Mask fit on Ogerpon's face like a glove. It cast a new menacing-looking face upon the ogre, capturing its appearance much more closely to the depictions of a fearsome ogre with a wicked expression on the various illustrations Juliana had seen around Kitakami.

"Pon! Pon-yo!"

Such 'menace' however was quickly dissolved by Ogerpon's still-very-cute cries and movements, jumping up and down in joyous glee to finally have its mask back.

"Hee hee, it seems so happy!" Carmine smiled, infected by Ogerpon's cheeriness. "Seems like it's pretty comfortable around you, Juliana. You must have that magic touch!"

Kieran turned his face away, unnoticed by Carmine but earning a look of sorrow from Juliana.

"Kieran, I—"

"It's okay," he waved her off. "I'm just glad it has its mask back."

Carmine sighed. "It'd sure be nice if we could give the other three masks back to Ogerpon too, don't you think?"

"Yeah, but those big blowhards are still holding onto them," Juliana pointed out.

"And… aren't the elders gonna want the masks returned to Kitakami Hall?"

"Yeah… they might," Carmine grimaced.

She crossed her arms in thought, and gazed indignantly upon the ogre, who seemed to bristle at being reminded what it was still missing.

"Never mind that the masks rightfully belong to poor Ogerpon here! I wouldn't put it past the so-called Loyal Three to plot a second ambush, either!"

She gathered her fists and seethed again. Except… it was different from all the other times. Her fists shook hard like she was seriously boiling over.

"Ogerpon did nothing, nothing! To deserve spending its whole life being swarmed by bullies, and being misjudged by everyone…"

Somehow, Juliana was brought back to Carmine's previous conversation about the troubles she'd experienced in school… and all the scorn she said she faces from the ignorant adults. Was she seeing a mirror of herself in Ogerpon?

Juliana had come to find Carmine's ragefests oddly… adorable. But she could sense that the girl was really boiling over this time. That this time, it was true rage.

"Carmine…" She wanted to placate her friend, and put an arm on her shoulder. "We need to do something to help."

Carmine's fists slowly calmed down, as did the redness on her face. The jolts she felt from Juliana's touch seemed to douse the fire within her.

"Yeah… yeah…"

She gave Juliana a look, saying "Thank you" without the use of words. Brought back down to Earth again, she pondered on what to do, before slamming her fist in her hand.

"We need to keep Ogerpon safe while dealing with those Lousy Three! That means the three of us are gonna form a team!"

"A team?"

"Look out, bullies of Kitakami! For here comes… the Mask Retrieval Squad!"

She flashed a peace sign over her eye and posed like some kind of superhero. Juliana couldn't keep it together, and slumped to her knees bursting with giggles.

Kieran sighed. "Yup. Definitely watching too many Riolu Girl movies…"

"Count me in!" Juliana chimed in, still giggling. "Sounds like a lot of fun!"

"Good idea, isn't it?" Carmine clapped, pleased with the reception. "And YOU get to be my second-in-command!"

Juliana saluted. "Ready to serve, boss!"

"…I can come too?"

"Of course you can!" Carmine addressed her brother. "Every nickel makes a muckle, or… whatever Grandma always says! And now that that's settled, let's gather intel about those Lousy Three in Mossui!"

"And then we fight them, and get the masks back!" Juliana declared, spurred on by Carmine's energy.

"Yeah! That's a great idea!" Kieran agreed. "The elders of the town will probably think those three wanted the masks to keep so… if we defeat them in battle, we can take the masks ourselves, give them back to Ogerpon, and the adults will never be the wiser!"

"That's great thinking, Kieran!" Juliana winced. "…I just hope they never ask us about it. I've never really lied to adults before, and I don't want to get in trouble with my school…"

"It'll be fine!" Carmine assured her. "We're gonna get those masks back and give them to their rightful owner! We can do this!"

Carmine pumped her fist in the air, roasting with newfound energy. Kieran and Juliana laughed, and they both put their fists up too.

Ogerpon looked between the three of them, and it raised its tiny arm up too.

"Pon… pon PONNN!" It gave a determined war cry, and ran up alongside Juliana.

"Ha ha… are you, are you saying you wanna come along too?"

"Ponnee!"

Carmine giggled. "That's the spirit! Every Squad needs an super adorable pint-sized mascot to fire us all up!" She eagerly pointed in the distance. "Now everyone! To Mossui! We're going to make those Lousy Three regret all their misdeeds and make Ogerpon happy!"

"YEAH!" the other two cheered.

Carmine took off to lead the pack. Juliana excitedly followed, with Ogerpon trailing right behind her, bouncing and smiling happily all the while.

Kieran found it a cute sight… but then he stopped, letting the other two blaze past him. A happy sight like that, oddly started to affect him in a different way.

He reached into his pocket. And looked back at the Dreaded Den.

The happiness he was feeling moments ago seemed to melt away… and he started feeling negative thoughts again, his mind focusing on Ogerpon's seeming rejection of him, and how easily it latched onto Juliana instead.

Why doesn't the ogre like me? I've practically known it and admired it my whole life… Doesn't it appreciate that?

Dark thoughts began to consume the boy again. He couldn't get the images of the ogre growling at him, but being all smiles and sunshine when Juliana was the one to give it the mask, out of his head. It was like everything else was being blotted out.

Kieran opened his eyes… With a fierce resolve, he glared at the ogre's home.

"I will find a way to make you love me."

Chapter Text

With Carmine leading the way, the newly christened Mask Retrieval Squad set off to "gather intel" or "perform reconnaissance" or "interrogate the locals", however Carmine would word it at that moment, in order to ascertain where the Lousy Three had disappeared to with the Masks.

Ogerpon however, refused to step any further with them once they got to Mossui Town.

"I bet it doesn't want to go in the village," Kieran guessed. "The villagers did a pretty good job of chasin' it away back then, so…"

"Pay attention now, Ogerpon…" Carmine tried to command it. "We go in village! You stay here! Ogerpon stay! Understand?"

"Po…?" But Ogerpon just looked around, clueless.

"…I'm gonna take that as a no."

Juliana knelt down to it and gave a soft reassuring grin.

"Stay here and wait for us to get back, okay? Try not to get yourself in trouble!"

"Ponii!" Ogerpon cried affirmatively.

"Looks like it understood that!" Kieran giggled.

"What was wrong with what I said!?" Carmine fumed, making Juliana and Kieran laugh.

With Juliana's command seeming to resonate, Ogerpon stood patiently and watched its helpers leave with a smile.

Kieran put a finger to his chin as he looked back at the creature. "Hmm…"

The three of them split up to talk to the townspeople.

Of course, Kieran was still very shy around people and mostly just talked to the neighbors around his house. Juliana made a greater effort to scope out the whole town, checking every street for people who might've seen the beasts.

Carmine was just annoyed that everyone she talked to was merely amazed at the Lousy Three's resurrection, rather than terrified.

"Am I the only one around here who cares that these three jerks were DEAD and that they've risen out of their graves like zombies!?"

Eventually, the three regrouped and met back with Ogerpon to compare notes.

"Pon-yo-pon!" Ogerpon greeted them excitedly.

Kieran revealed that one of his neighbors, an apple farmer, spotted Munkidori heading towards Wysteria Pond while out in the orchard.

Juliana met a backpacker who saw something resembling Okidogi out in the distance all the way at Paradise Barrens.

And Carmine spoke to a young child who watched Fezandipiti fly through the sky, pointing in the direction of Oni Mountain's peak.

"I knew the Mask Retrieval Squad I assembled wouldn't let me down! Rest assured, your fearless leader—that's me—sees your hard work and effort!" Carmine pointed boastfully to herself.

"Good grief…" Kieran mumbled.

"Don't backtalk the boss, Kieran," Juliana playfully teased.

"You're both way into this…" he groaned.

"The boss appreciates your sucking up!" Carmine turned to Juliana. "I'll record everything we found out in your Rotom Phone so you can be my trusty navigator!"

"You want me to lead the way?"

"Of course! I trust you the most!"

"Sis also happens to be bad with directions…" Kieran mumbled.

"Quiet, Kiki!" she whispered.

Once the reported locations of the Lousy Three were recorded on Juliana's map, Carmine nodded confidently to everyone.

"Now then, let's go retrieve those masks!" Carmine pumped her fist in the air, and Juliana joined her in excitement.

Ogerpon jumped up in joy. It made Kieran giggle… but then that jogged his memory towards what he had just decided on.

"I'm… I'm not goin'," he muttered.

Juliana and Carmine both looked at him in shock.

"What? Why not?" Juliana asked, worried.

"You're part of the team! You have to come along!"

Kieran started fidgeting with his hands. He gazed at Ogerpon, who was looking at him confused… and clinging to Juliana.

"As long as Juliana's around, I'm sure Ogerpon will feel safe…"

Juliana's mouth dropped, and she looked at Ogerpon hugging her leg, feeling guilty.

"Kieran…"

But Kieran turned his back to them. "'Sides, I got things to do…" He ran off in the direction of town. "Sorry!"

The three of them watched Kieran leave with faces of grave concern, Juliana futilely reaching her hand out.

"Huh. I wonder if he's still upset?" Carmine wondered.

"But I thought we had fixed that…" said a disappointed Juliana.

"Oh well. We can't force him to tag along. Let's just take care of this ourselves!"

Juliana gulped. She was still worried about Kieran, but looking at Ogerpon's pleading face at her feet, she decided the mission was more important for now.

"Alright… let's go."

They headed off alone with Ogerpon, but Juliana still looked back at Mossui with a worried face as they did so.

It turned out Okidogi wasn't very hard to spot. Not only did it stick out like a sore thumb in the middle of Paradise Barrens but… astonishingly, it had grown in size! Juliana surmised it must have been from the herbs the elders fed it, knowing that there were special herbs in Paldea that caused a similar effect to the Pokémon there.

But even with its mighty size, the giant Retainer Pokémon was no match for the combined efforts of Juliana and Carmine, who together with their Pokémon sent Okidogi packing, and recovered one of Ogerpon's masks.

Ogerpon ran up to the mask Okidogi dropped, depicting a gray face with blue and black tusks and a jolly smile.

"Yeah! High five!" said Carmine.

Ogerpon squealed and jumped up to give the tall girl a high five.

Juliana giggled. "Ogerpon's really starting to open up to you!"

"I told you my devilish charms capture everyone's love eventually!" Carmine boasted. "Besides, of course we get along when we're working towards a common goal! We're going to make these Lousy Three EAT DIRT until they cry like babies and go back underground! Right, Ogerpon?"

"Pon yoooo!" Ogerpon gave its war cry.

"It's great you're so fired up about this Carmine," chuckled Juliana. "But… remember, our main goal is to get those masks back for Ogerpon!"

"I know that! But any excuse to squash bullies like the BUGS that they are really gets me going!" She slammed her hands together as she spoke, as if she was killing an invisible insect.

Juliana thought back to how unusually enraged Carmine was when they first heard the real legend about the Loyal Three being bullies to Ogerpon, and stealing its masks in the present day.

"You really have a thing against bullies, huh?" she ascertained.

"Well, yeah!" Carmine retorted like that was obvious. "I hate them more than anything. I told you about when I was growing up and I learned the only way to stop bullies is to knock them down yourself and let them know who's boss!"

"I still don't… think that that's true," said Juliana with a slightly troubled expression.

"Well, let me ask you this. Back home at… Uva Academy or whatever. Is there a lot of bullying that goes on at that school?"

"Well…"

The honest answer to that question was no, Juliana realized. All the students back home at Uva seemed to treat one another very cordially, and she was welcomed into her new classroom with nothing but friendly faces. Not to mention the fast friend she quickly made in Nemona, who was one of the kindest people she had ever met.

However, Juliana was now being reminded of one of her little quests back home in Paldea…

Operation Starfall. A mission to take down all of Team Star's bosses and disband the group of delinquent students.

And how the last boss she had defeated, a really pretty girl named Mela with energy a lot like Carmine's, revealed to her and "Clive" (Juliana's new friend who looked suspiciously a lot like Director Clavell) that Team Star was formed a year and a half ago to fight back against the bullies they faced at school… and how it ultimately just led to those bullies getting scared and dropping out of school.

"Ummm… not, not recently, I guess," Juliana conceded.

"Yeah. That tracks. It explains a lot about you, honestly."

Juliana raised an eyebrow. "Huh? What is that supposed to mean?"

Carmine laughed. "Oh, just how you're so friendly and kind of naïve, and willing to trust anyone. You don't have the rough experiences to understand my point of view." She then turned to Ogerpon. "But Ogerpon here has dealt with terrible bullies, and knows how effective a good thrashing is! Right, Ogerpon?"

Excitedly, Ogerpon unsheathed its spiked ivy cudgel, the terrifying weapon it was said to use to kill the Loyal Three in the legends, and swiped it in the air like a toy sword.

This made Carmine giggle again. "See, Ogerpon? At least you get me!"

Juliana just shook her head. "Whatever's helping you two bond, I guess."

But she looked at Carmine and Ogerpon laughing together and… had to admit it was a pretty warm sight.

Next the Mask Retrieval Squad met Fezandipiti, who had also grown larger like Okidogi, at the peak of Oni Mountain near the Crystal Pool. They ended up chasing it into a huge, sprawling cave full of twists and turns that Carmine said is called the Chilling Waterhead.

"I've only ever been in here, once I was super little and out exploring on my own… and, well… my grandparents had to send rescuers to find me when I hadn't come back home after sunset."

As they walked through the spiraling labyrinth, Carmine had decided to regale Juliana with tales of the worst bullies she'd ever heard of in Unova.

"That's when it turned out their whole thing about 'liberating Pokémon from their Trainers' was all just a whole front for this whackjob who wanted to be the only one with Pokémon so he could take over the whole Unova region!"

"Wow that's… pretty evil," said Juliana.

"Yeah! And even after he was defeated, Team Plasma was still causing trouble around the Unova region for a couple years! By the time I was going there as a junior student—as the most adorable little tyke you'd ever meet, by the way—they had dropped the whole 'liberation' nonsense and were just simply a bunch of crooks stealing people's Pokémon!"

Ogerpon gasped at the audacity.

"But they were still extremely dangerous! They froze an entire city, flew around in a huge airship, and made a giant castle appear in the middle of the Pokémon League! Even now, they still say that if you wander down the wrong street anywhere in Unova, rogue Plasma grunts will beat you up and take your Pokémon!"

She said that last part with the affect of an evil storyteller, trying to scare Juliana like she did with the other kid Butch.

"Uh huh," Juliana reacted, unimpressed. Even Ogerpon's eyelids were lowered, more so to imitate her expression. "Did they really freeze a whole city or did you just make that up?"

"No I didn't! That part's really true!" Carmine proclaimed, getting defensive. "Look, I have this friend—Well, he's not really a friend. He's just a guy I know at school, who grew up in that town around the time Team Plasma froze it. He even showed us pictures! I'll see if I can get him to send them to me so I can show you."

"Um, please do. Because that's… so hard to imagine. Was everyone okay?"

"Mm-hm. He said the town thawed out eventually." Then she leaned in close to Juliana. "Tch. Between you and me though, I don't think he ever thawed out all the way."

"Oh yeah?" Juliana chuckled.

"Yeah he's so… chill all the time. But, in a really annoying sort of way." She grumbled. "He's very irritating to deal with."

Juliana chortled a bit at the thought of that. She hoisted up her bag, and laughed as Ogerpon imitated her by hoisting its green cloak up.

"Well you know… Paldea has its own troublemakers too."

Carmine snickered, remembering the other kid who tried to brag that with her.

"Oh yeah? Let me guess, giant Pokémon crawling around everywhere?"

Juliana's eyes lit up. "Wait, you know about that?"

"Huh." Carmine gave her a look that you said "You're kidding, right?"

"Y'know, I was just thinking how funny it is… my buddy Arven said that they grew to be that way because of special herbs… Isn't that… kind of… just like what we saw with Okidogi, and… now Fezandipiti too?"

Carmine looked completely nonplussed, trying to figure out whether Juliana was implying giant Pokémon really do run amok in the Paldea region or just pushing her buttons like Carmine was doing to her.

"I uhh… I don't know, kid. Maybe it… is just a coincidence."

"Well, either way, it's not just the Pokémon you have to worry about. There's a scary group of kids in Paldea called Team Star."

"Team Star?" Carmine raised an eyebrow, amused. "Please, tell me more about your wonderous region and its love for copyright infringement."

"Well, they're not a bunch of crooks stealing Pokémon, sure. They're a bunch of delinquent students who, at least according to all the adults, cause a lot of trouble for the students. I first met them when I saw two of them trying to harass this really shy girl named Penny into joining them and—"

"Woah, woah, hang on before you start giving me your whole memoir here," Carmine interrupted her.

She stood in place at the edge of the crag they were walking through, with her hands on her hips.

"You really mean to tell me, that your school is so lame that students don't even want to go, and would rather start a gang instead? That's hilarious!" she giggled.

"That's… not what I wanted you to focus on," Juliana pouted.

"I'm sorry," Carmine said between guffaws. "That's so freaking fu—"

All of a sudden, as she was shuffling about, the ground beneath Carmine started crumbling, and then it gave way!

"—uuaaAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

And the tall Kitakamite girl found herself stumbling and falling downward.

Juliana gasped. "CARMINE!"

She looked on in abject horror as she watched her friend plummeting down the long chasm of the waterhead.

"PON-PONNN!" cried Ogerpon.

Carmine screamed at the top of her lungs as she plunged, afraid to look down because she knew she was heading for a hard impact.

Her whole life started flashing before her eyes, like they say it does when you're about to die.

Tears flying off her face into the ethers, Carmine squinted her sobbing eyes shut, bracing for the inevitable.

This is it. I'm dying, I'm about to die, this is the end of my life, I just killed myself, Kiki will be so devastated, my grandparents, my friends, I never got to say goodbye to any of them, I can't believe this is—

"AAAAHHHHHHH—Huh!?"

Suddenly… Carmine wasn't falling anymore. Instead, she felt herself get scooped up by—something. Something large.

"Wha—is it over? Am I dead!?"

She couldn't bear to open her eyes, but when she squinted them open a little bit, all she could make out was a humongous purple shape.

Her body felt like it was rattling as whatever was holding her sailed downward like it was descending a rocky wall. Her brain was still a rush of a thousand different emotions, chief among them the sensation that she still didn't know whether she was dying or not.

After what seemed like an eternity, she felt her body being slowly and gently placed on a flat surface.

Carmine was hyperventilating immensely, her eyes still scrunched shut. But then she felt two warm hands begin to cradle her shoulders and gently pick her up.

"Carmine… Carmine, are you okay?"

She slowly opened her eyes, and immediately saw Juliana's eyes. Those soft hazel-brown eyes, on her soft face. Looking down at her.

A light was casting down from somewhere up top that illuminated Juliana's whole face as she stared down at Carmine with a deeply concerned expression. Somehow, Carmine felt her spiked heart rate steadily dropping.

"Juliana…" Carmine breathed. "I-I… where am I?"

"We're at the bottom of the waterhead now," Juliana said, her voice incredibly shaky. "You fell, and—and Miraidon and I jumped down to save you. Are you okay?"

Carmine swallowed several times, trying to regain herself. She nudged Juliana to let go of her and began to sit up on her own.

"Yeah, yeah… I-I'm fine. But, but what'd you say? You said something about a… horizon or somethi—"

"GURAHH!"

Carmine jerked her head upwards and saw some sort of large lizard-like thing gazing down upon her.

"AGH!"

She scrambled and scurried away like a speedy Spinarak, reacting in shock to the huge metallic purple creature.

"What—what is that huge monster!? Some kind of kaiju!?"

Juliana giggled at how Carmine's reaction to the Iron Serpent almost identically mirrored Kieran's.

"This is Miraidon," Juliana introduced, patting her large serpent friend on the head. "I found him unconscious on a beach. He belongs to Professor Turo, who told me to take him with me on my journey so he can regain his strength." She giggled awkwardly. "Don't worry. He may look kind of strange and scary, but he's really just a big old softie who loves sandwiches!"

"Agias?"

Miraidon started inching closer to Carmine, sniffing her curiously. Carmine was backed up against the wall, both amazed and cautious at this Pokémon that was like nothing she had ever seen before it up.

"Hey now, take it easy…" she said warily. "What are you—AGH!"

All of a sudden, without warning, Miraidon stuck its tongue out and started licking Carmine in the face.

"PFF! OUGH! What the hell!?"

Juliana broke out laughing. She almost fell to her knees, clutching her stomach.

"I'm sorry! He does that to people sometimes! I guess it's his way of saying he really likes you!"

She smiled widely, feeling relieved that these two were creating some levity to shake off her extremely rattled emotions.

"Eww! Agh! Well… I-I would really like it if you would tell this beast of a Pokémon to cut it out!" Carmine yelled, frazzled.

"That's enough, Miraidon," Juliana gently commanded her rider. "Time to return to your Ball."

Miraidon grunted affirmatively and allowed itself to be recalled.

Carmine stood up and frantically began trying to wipe all the saliva off herself.

"Ewww… you really need to teach that thing some manners." Juliana reached into her bag, and pulled out a small hand towel, which Carmine grabbed without hesitation.

"Ugh! Unbelievable! I'm going to need a long shower after this!" Carmine complained as she furiously wiped herself down. "Now I think I'm remembering… isn't that the same Pokémon you rode on for the Ogre Oustin' game?" Juliana nodded.

"Hmph. So you saw me falling and sent that thing to catch my fall, huh?"

Juliana suddenly began to sweat, and tugged at her collar.

"Umm, actually… it, it caught the both of us." Carmine looked at her in confusion. "Ummm… I sort of, well, when I saw you falling, I… immediately jumped after you. And Miraidon saved the both of us from falling."

Carmine's eyes widened like saucers and she dropped the rag.

"You WHAT!?" She seethed. "Why would you do something so dangerous!? If you didn't have that—that thing with you, we would've both been killed!"

Juliana rubbed her head awkwardly and stammered. "I don't—I don't know why I did it! I-I wasn't really thinking. I just… I saw you falling and I, I wanted to save you."

Carmine glowered, at a complete loss for words to say.

The silence was broken when they heard a voice echoing through the caverns.

"Ponnnnn! Ponnoooooo!"

They heard little feet scampering, and sure enough there was Ogerpon, descending down the cliffs to meet them at the bottom of the waterhead.

"Oh my gosh, Ogerpon!" Juliana realized. "I totally forgot we left it all alone up there!"

Ogerpon had tears running down its face as it sprinted up to its squadmates. Then, to their surprise, it immediately wrapped Carmine's legs in a tight hug.

"Oh!"

"Pon-yo-pon!" it cried.

Carmine gently patted the small ogre on its head. "I'm… I'm fine, Ogerpon. Thank you for your concern."

"Pon?" Then Carmine broke off and went to hug Juliana too, crying just as heavily.

"We're both fine, Ogerpon!" she laughed, petting Ogerpon too.

"Gosh, that must have been so scary for Ogerpon," Carmine realized. "Watching both of its new friends just… fall off like that, not knowing if either of us were okay."

Juliana, realizing this too, knelt down and embraced Ogerpon in a full hug to calm the poor creature down.

"Well… we're all fine down here at the bottom of the cave now. Safe and sound."

"Ponnn…" Ogerpon was still a little rattled, but was able to calm down from Juliana's comforting embrace.

"Yip-ip-ippy!"

They all heard a sudden noise, through a light at the end of their tunnel, and the distant sound of wings flapping.

"That's… that's gotta be Fezandipiti on the other side of that exit," said Juliana.

"Well, well, well. Looks like we just took a… a very hasty shortcut to get to our goal. Let's go!"

Carmine dusted herself off and started walking. Juliana grabbed her hand in alarm.

"Wait. Carmine. Are you… are you sure you don't want to rest first?"

"Heh. Clipping that big bird's wings is all the catharsis I'm going to need!" she assured her. Her smile dropped as she took in Juliana's big… brown eyes again. She cleared her throat. "So c'mon already. Let's get that mask back."

"Ponyo!"

The three of them started walking towards the exit. Carmine quickly noticed that Juliana hadn't let go of her hand, and she gently pulled it out of her grasp.

"Oh… sorry!"

"Umm…" Carmine rubbed her head sheepishly and blushed. "Thanks, by the way. For… for saving my life."

"Don't mention it," Juliana said softly.

Carmine smiled a bit bashfully. Then, she took on a sterner face and leaned in close to Juliana.

"Don't breathe a single word of what just happened to Kiki, okay?"

Juliana solemnly nodded. "I understand."

She didn't know why, but it certainly felt much easier keeping a secret for Carmine's sake now.

Chapter Text

"Mmkay…"

Munkidori was the last of the Lousy Three to fall to the combined might of Juliana's Ceruledge and Carmine's Poltchageist. It tripped on its own feet, dropping the mask in its possession, and scurried away in panic.

"You never stood a chance!" Carmine boasted after it. She turned to Juliana and slammed her fists together. "We're an unstoppable force! You and I are just like Ogerpon and its masks—we help bring out each other's full power!"

"Pon pon!" Ogerpon cheered.

"Yeah, we do!" Juliana agreed. "And look, there's the last mask!"

She ran up and picked up the mask in the grass. It was a blue heart-shaped mask that looked like a crying face.

Ogerpon rushed up, and Juliana held it out for her. "Here you go!" Ogerpon looked at the mask, and smiled cheerfully at its friend.

"That's the last mask, isn't it?" Juliana verified. Ogerpon nodded affirmatively. "Hurray! We got all of them back! That means we've completed our mission!"

Ogerpon started to cry out in rallying joy. "Pon-pon! Pon yo pon ponnn…!" Then it felt a tap on its shoulder, and turned around.

"ROAAAAAAARRRRRRRR!"

Carmine hunched over the little ogre flashing her hands at it like claws… and wearing Ogerpon's other mask they had retrieved from Fezandipiti, a spiked red and yellow mask that bore a very angry face.

"Pon?"

Ogerpon just seemed to stare at Carmine's attempted scare… and then burst out laughing.

"Aww, come on!" Carmine lifted the mask up. "Weren't you at least a little scared?"

"I think Ogerpon's immune to being scared by its own masks," Juliana giggled. "But you really brightened up my day with that!"

Ogerpon smiled, and grabbed the Hearthflame mask from Carmine's displeased face. Taking out the other two masks in its possession, Ogerpon looked between all three of its recovered masks, gave them a tight hug, and began jumping up and down in celebration.

Juliana laughed. "Well, we really did it! Ogerpon finally has all of its masks again, and I've never seen it so happy!"

"Congratulations, Ogerpon! And good work, Juliana! Thank goodness it all worked out!"

Juliana put her arms behind her back and stretched bigly, relieved to have successfully accomplished their task.

As her head cocked up, she spotted something on the trees above that piqued her interest.

"Woah. What are those bright red fruits up there?"

"Huh?"

"On the trees," she pointed.

Carmine looked up. "Oh, wow! Good eye!" Her eyes twinkled at the sight of the tree fruits sprouting from two nearby trees. "Those are Umeboshi plums! They grow very rare around here, and only during a certain point in the early autumn!"

"'Uma-boshi', huh?"

"Umeboshi!" Carmine sternly corrected her pronunciation. "They're really sought after because they have like… this taste that's so hard to describe. It's sweet in one way but also sour in another."

"Oh, wow."

"I've gotta get some of those home to my Gram! I bet she can make some scrumptious stuff with those! It'll be a welcome change from all the mochi she makes…"

Juliana gazed up with her hand over her eyes.

"Those trees are pretty tall, though."

She felt a hand come down on the top of her hair and start nuzzling it.

"Awww, too short? Let me and my gifted legs handle this!"

Carmine walked over to one of the trees with a proud strut, and jumped as high as she could to reach the umeboshi… but her fingers were just barely not there.

"C'mon… Don't make me look stupid, you dumb plums… Get DOWN here! … Huh?"

She felt something tapping her legs and looked behind her to see Ogerpon was trying to get her attention.

"Pon pon!" Ogerpon jumped up with its arms held out wide.

"What? You wanna try and reach for 'em?" Carmine sighed dramatically. "If you want to help that badly, then alright. But I can totally get them all by myself."

Even so, she hoisted an excited Ogerpon up in her arms, who reached up and delicately picked all the plums. Ogerpon nuzzled its face up to Carmine's, and Carmine couldn't help but laugh merrily at its gesture of affection.

Juliana couldn't help but laugh because Carmine's laugh was that infectious.

As the tall pair scooped up plums, a light breeze blew through the field and tickled Juliana's legs. It bristled against the purple-colored thistles all around her, almost making them hum.

"This place is gorgeous…"

She hadn't really taken the time to soak in the views of Wysteria Pond while they were fighting a giant monkey Pokémon. There was a glistening body of water where Surskit danced, and a flock's worth of Sensu Style Oricorio walked the tall grass, blending in with the purple shrubbery.

It was like a pretty little corner of the world.

Juliana felt her excitement pumping up, and by the time Carmine and Ogerpon had finished plucking all the plums…

"Hey! Let's have a picnic here!"

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Pon pon?" Ogerpon imitated Carmine.

"Right here!" Juliana spread her arms out. "This place is beautiful! And the wind is so calming, the sun's out. C'mon! This is the perfect place for it!"

Carmine looked at her funny. "Why do you have your mind on lunch all of a sudden? Did you forget about the importance of our mission?"

"We already got the masks back, right? So we've got all the time in the world," Juliana giggled as she continued, "And picnics aren't just about food! They're about enjoying nature, and spending quality time with friends, including our Pokémon! Isn't that why you love camping?"

"I—Well, yeah, o-of course! I'm the master of picnics, I'll have you know!" Carmine said defensively. "I just didn't know a bookworm like you knew anything about having a good picnic."

"Of course I do!" Juliana laughed some more. "Picnics are all the rage in Paldea! I have them with my Pokémon all the time!"

"…You do?" Carmine responded. She tried to hide the surprise in her tone, feeling embarrassed that she had apparently been getting the "city vibes" from Juliana all wrong.

"Yeah! I even brought all my picnic supplies right here in my backpack, in case I wanted to unwind with one here in Kitakami!"

"You're kidding."

"And just think about Ogerpon, she probably hasn't enjoyed something like a picnic with friends and good food in many years." She knelt down to the happy ogre. "What do you say, Ogerpon? Want to sit down for a picnic for a couple hours?"

Ogerpon cried excitedly at the idea and began rustling with joy.

"Besides, I—I'm still worried about you after that fall," Juliana said, adopting a voice of concern. "Maybe we should take it easy for a bit."

Carmine huffed. "How many times do I have to tell you? I'm fine! I—"

Her brain shut down from whatever she was about to say when she felt Juliana tenderly grab her hand.

"…Then help me believe you."

Juliana gazed into Carmine's eyes. Carmine gazed back, taking in the brilliant brown-hazel color she'd first noticed waking up to them in the Chilling Waterhead.

What were those eyes doing to her?

"W-well… Y-you know what? Ogerpon's cute enough to warrant anything that it wants," Carmine reasoned. "So it's the boss! And if the boss wants it, then who am I to say no?"

"Pon-yo!"

"Gasp! Am I not cute enough?" Juliana whined in mock offense, putting her fingers to her cheeks and making an exaggerated pouting face.

"Not when you do that, no."

Carmine tried to keep her face still.

…Maybe a little.

Carmine had to admit, she was both surprised and impressed not only that Juliana wasn't lying about having all the essentials for a picnic on her person, but how expertly she set everything up.

Carmine helped her with the chairs and the blanket, but Juliana set up the basket, all the cups, plates, and bottles by herself. She brought out all sandwich ingredients in little slider bags and freezer pouches, and insisted Carmine help her out in making the sandwich.

She noticed that Juliana had a skill for putting ingredients together that was almost artisan-like. She was able to stack things on top of each other without letting anything drop off the bread.

"Lots of trial and error, though," she chuckled sheepishly.

"Yeah, but if I tried to pile all this stuff together, I'd probably be dropping everything all over the floor! You're… very good at this," said a legitimately impressed Carmine.

Juliana blushed. "T-thanks."

A real compliment?

She started slathering the pickles on with her face turned away so Carmine wouldn't see how red it was. Carmine just chuckled deviously to herself, finding the sight funny.

Juliana and Carmine both brought out all the Pokémon on them to enjoy the fresh air too. Some of them played with a blue Marill-shaped ball Juliana shaped, and others ran around racing each other or playing hide and seek.

Carmine was surprised at how easily her own Pokémon seemed to bond with Juliana's, especially Poltchageist and Floragato who were getting along surprisingly well.

"Yeah, it's nice to see my Pokémon get along so well with others. I've never had a shared picnic with another Trainer besides Arven before," Juliana admitted. "And he doesn't really seem to have any Pokémon of his own."

She and Carmine were sat snugly on Juliana's Uva Academy-themed picnic blanket, enjoying delicious sandwiches with Ogerpon and Miraidon.

Ogerpon was scarfing down its sandwich with big bites, enamored by the sweet yet tangy taste of Juliana's veggie sandwiches, apparently her mother's recipe.

It was so protective of its delicious meal that, when a curious Miraidon poked its nose in to sniff at the food, Ogerpon gave it a threatening look while reaching for its ivy cudgel… which made Miraidon retreat in fear.

"Well, for some reason, everyone you meet seems to really like you right away. I guess that kind of infectious energy spread to your Pokémon like a virus. Good thing I'm the only one immune to your charms," Carmine snarked.

"Or maybe you're just resisting too hard," Juliana smiled bigly. "By the end of this adventure, you're going to wish I was your sister!"

"Tch, if I had grown up with you as my sister, I probably would've gone mad years ago."

Juliana just giggled in response. Now that she had received a genuine compliment from the once all-sour Kitakamite, she could take any further snark from Carmine in stride. Juliana was satisfied with how far in she'd broken through Carmine's thick walls.

"Speaking of siblings though…" Carmine started to look a little sad. "I hate to admit it, but I really wish Kiki were here right now."

Juliana frowned, feeling guilty. "Do you think he'd be upset if he found out we held a picnic without him?"

"Yeah, probably. … Guess we shouldn't tell him."

"What? But Carmine, I… I thought we agreed we wouldn't lie to him anymore."

"I promised we wouldn't lie about Ogerpon anymore. I'm still okay with keeping secrets that I know would hurt him. I've been in the big sister business a long time, Juliana."

"Yeah, but…"

"You seemed okay with not telling him about the whole… y'know, our little adventure back there in the caves."

Juliana pouted. She didn't have a good retort for that.

"Look, Juliana… You're an only child, aren't you?" Carmine asked a bit more sensitively. Juliana reluctantly nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, that's what I thought. See… maybe if you were our sister, you would understand better. This is just—a thing siblings have to do. Especially me as the older sibling.

Y'know, my grandparents, they… they really want me to be the responsible one for him. Especially without our parents around. It's a lot of pressure, always havin' to protect him. …I really don't think you could ever understand."

Juliana nodded softly, knowing that on some level, she was making a really good point.

"I know that you care about him and that you're trying to protect him," she acknowledged. "But… we're also really hurting his feelings."

Carmine had a look of bitter resignation, and replied softly, "…I know."

"And isn't—don't you think that maybe, that maybe his feelings being hurt is the reason that he…" Juliana trailed off, not being sure how to finish that sentence nicely.

But Carmine picked up on her insinuation and cocked an eyebrow.

"I hope you aren't suggesting that it's my fault Kiki's been acting so strange."

"No! Of course not! I would never suggest that!" Juliana said, waving her hands anxiously upon realizing she hit a nerve. "I'm just… I don't know. I guess I'm worried that you're not considering his feelings."

Carmine wanted to scoff. Wanted to snark back. Wanted to get mad. But nothing sounded appropriate in her head. It wasn't that she thought Juliana was right. But… she just didn't know how to respond to that.

Juliana sucked in her lips. She knew she had just made things a bit awkward. Carmine fingered the rim of her orange juice bottle. After a minute or two of silence, she spoke up.

"You're really all about that, huh? Putting everyone else's feelings first?"

Juliana awkwardly shrugged. "I guess? I don't think there's anything wrong with that."

"Didn't say there was," Carmine quietly responded. "Y'know… I guess you and Kiki are kind of similar in that way."

"Really?"

She nodded. "I mean… he's been saying a lot of selfish stuff lately, but, really since he was a kid he was always worrying about other people and especially Pokémon more than himself. And I mean, yeah, caring about others is great and all…" She became sullen. "Not watching out for yourself is really dangerous. That's, that's what makes me worried he'll hurt himself real bad someday."

Juliana's face was still. Carmine had made another point that was difficult to combat. It took her almost a minute to respond.

"That might be true, but… I think he could learn to be responsible for himself, in time. Maybe when the time is right, you just need to give him that chance."

"Mmm," was Carmine's only response, neither affirming nor dismissive.

Juliana decided they had talked about Kieran enough and decided to change the subject. She thought about how Carmine had mentioned their parents not being around.

"So… how long have you and Kieran been living with your grandparents? If that's okay for me to ask."

Carmine shrugged. "I don't know about… as long as I can remember. I mean, I do sort of have a tiny bit of memory of my dad's face, I guess? But I was really little then, and Kiki would've only just been born. And then whatever happened happened, and it's just been us and Gram and Gramps since then."

"I'm sorry."

"Ehh, it doesn't bother me too much," she shrugged again. "They're basically like my parents anyway. And Gramps used to say they'll tell us what happened when we're older. But… I guess I've just never been curious to ask. Grandma and Grandpa are my family. That's all that matters to me."

Juliana watched her Pokémon playing around for a bit while she reflected on Carmine's way of thinking.

After a pause, she said, "My dad… my dad also died when I was really young."

Carmine, surprised to hear her being so forthright, muttered "…'m sorry to hear that."

"Yeah. I was born in the Galar region where they both used to be office workers, but after he died, Mom moved us to Paldea, in a little town called Cabo Poco, I guess for a fresh start. And since then, it's… just been the two of us. Facing the world together."

Juliana smiled, thinking about what her mom must be doing right now.

Maybe picking fruits outside like us. Or cleaning up after Skwovet.

"So… this is your first time outside of Paldea at all since you were a baby?" Carmine asked in-between a spoonful of strawberry yogurt infused with umeboshi juice.

Juliana thought about it for a second. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess it really is."

"Heh. I could tell," she said with a playful smile. "You've totally got the stench of a real homebody."

"The stench?" a disbelieving Juliana repeated.

"Yeah! Most people who have been to different places have a whole mix of smells to them. But you? You just stink of boring ol' Paldea."

"Hmph!" Juliana crossed her arms. "And what does Paldea smell like?"

Carmine reached into her nearly empty cup of yogurt with her finger. Then she reached over and booped Juliana on the nose, leaving a tiny dollop of yogurt on it.

"You."

Juliana huffed and pouted. She used her tongue to try to lick it off, but ended up cringing from the incredibly tart aftertaste.

"What'd you do that for?" Juliana asked, using a tissue to wipe it off.

"Because… you're real cute when you pout like a sourpuss," said Carmine, still giggling with her chin resting on her hands.

"Oh yeah? Well you're really pretty when you laugh."

Carmine stopped, and her own face sucked in a bit, flushing red.

"Hah! Made you blush, didn't I?" said an unusually smug Juliana.

Carmine's face tinged a bit. "See? You're not all sweet like you think you are!" She smiled coyly. "I like it. You remind me of the person I adore the most."

"And who's that?"

Juliana bobbled her head teasingly in Carmine's direction, only to be met with a sudden splash of apple juice in her face.

"Me, of course! And by the way, you look absolutely adorable when your face is all wet!"

"Hmph!"

Juliana picked up a leftover pickle from her plate and stuck it on Carmine's forehead. Ogerpon started guffawing at the sight.

"Grrr!" Carmine growled. "You trying to wage war, shortie? Because I win a food fight like no other! Just watch thi—"

"Uhhh… what are you two doing?"

Juliana and Carmine were both brought out of their playfulness when they heard Kieran's voice.

He was standing at the edge of the hill going up the pond, with a confused look on his face.

"Kiki! D-don't sneak up on people!" Carmine scolded.

"But I wasn't…" He hung his head down. "Ugh, sorry. I just came here to see how you were guys were doing getting the masks back."

"We got 'em all!" Juliana told him excitedly as she stood up and started gathering supplies. "Ogerpon has all of its masks back again!"

Ogerpon stood up excitedly and did a little show of putting on all four of its masks and making different facial expressions with each one:

Laughing mischievously with its Teal Mask.

Imitating Carmine's roaring prank with its Hearthflame Mask.

Pretending to cry and wipe its face with its Wellspring Mask.

And patting its stomach while laughing heartily with its Cornerstone Mask.

Kieran giggled in delight and clapped.

"It looks so happy now! That must feel great to take back all the masks the village kept from you after all these years!"

"Pon pon yo pon!" Ogerpon cried, nodding vigorously.

Carmine decided to help Juliana pack up everything, and Juliana started rolling up the blanket. Kieran couldn't but snicker at the pickle still on her forehead. She quickly slapped it off and began to feel self-conscious.

"Just so you know, we weren't doing anything suspicious," said Carmine. "We were just—just—"

"Just having a picnic? That's fine," Kieran said blankly. "Ogerpon deserves to have some real food after spending its whole life foraging Berries on its own, so I get it." Juliana was relieved that Kieran seemed to be so understanding.

"Well, I'm sorry you just missed us kicking some Lousy Three butt, Kiki! We could've used another cheerleader."

"Pon yo?"

"Not that you weren't doing a great job, Ogrepon."

"Yoooo…" Ogerpon blushed.

"Oh, that's fine! I woulda just slowed ya down anyways…" Kieran lamented.

"That's not true," Juliana shook her head.

"Well, uhh… Since you're here and ya already got the masks, I… I wanted to ask a favor…"

"What's up?"

"I wanted you to come to the village. …An' bring the ogre with you."

Juliana's smile fell. "Bring Ogerpon…? But the villagers… Are you sure it's safe?"

"You gotta trust me!" Kieran insisted. "It'll be OK. I promise…"

Carmine's eyes narrowed, and she instinctively put a hand over Ogerpon like a mother protecting her child.

"Kiki… what're you planning? I hope you aren't doing something rash…"

"I'm serious!" Kieran said a bit more defensively. "Can't you just trust me for once in your life, sis?"

"…" Carmine looked guiltily down to the ground.

Kieran paused and looked a bit regretful to have said that.

"Sorry, but… Th-that's all I wanted to ask. Just come! … Please!"

And without another word, like someone else was waiting on him, he ran back in the direction of the village.

"I wonder what's gotten into him," Carmine worried. "Everyone in the village thinks that Ogerpon's a menace, right? I hope he knows what he's doing…"

"Pon!" Ogerpon exclaimed, seemingly blissfully unaware of the situation.

Juliana looked at the small Pokémon and smiled. Patting it on the head, she reasoned, "Kieran admires Ogerpon too much that I think he would do something that risks putting it in danger."

She closed her eyes and thought on it a minute.

"I think… let's trust Kieran and take Ogerpon to the village."

"Well, I trust you, Juliana. So… okay." Juliana's eyes lit up to hear her say that. "If things go south, I'll use my natural charm to smooth things over!"

She flipped her hair dramatically, making Ogerpon's eyes twinkle in awe.

"See? Works like a charm every time!"

Juliana giggled.

They started walking the way through Wistful Fields back into town. On the way, Carmine turned to Juliana and said gently, "Hey… thanks for suggesting that picnic. You were right. I do feel less anxious now."

"I'm glad to hear it," Juliana smiled. "Maybe—maybe after all of this is over, we can have another one sometime."

Carmine smiled softly.

"You know what? I'd like that."

"Grrr…"

As expected, Ogerpon cowered in fear by the time they got to the bridge to Mossui Town, where Kieran was waiting.

"Eesh… You really don't want to be here, do you?" Carmine observed.

"D-don't worry! It'll be fine!" said Kieran.

"Kiki! What's all this about, really?"

Kieran didn't face her. But he craned his neck to look back at Ogerpon.

"I-I know you must be scared, Ogerpon, but I did my best…"

"Pon?"

"I wanted to prove that I care about you too… So, just trust me and come with me, OK?"

Ogerpon still looked woefully unsure. But Kieran smiled gently at it. Ogerpon looked surprised, as if whatever bad vibes it was picking up from the young boy before didn't seem to be there anymore.

So, cautiously, it reached its arm out. Kieran took it in his hand.

Silently, the two walked together back to the village, with Juliana and Carmine right behind them.

It turned out, Kieran had been up to something quite tremendous while the Mask Retrieval Squad was way.

Incredibly, he had managed to get the true story of Ogerpon out to the townspeople and convinced all of them, even Nao and the rest of the town elders, that the truth of Ogerpon and the Loyal Three's past had been misconstrued all along.

"He'd got into my secret cabinet with all the mask-maker's old notebooks and drawings that our family passed down," Hideko explained. "I tried telling him to stop because I feared he'd draw resentment from everyone, but…"

Juliana and Carmine were astonished as Nao led the town in apologizing to the touched Ogerpon.

"We're so sorry, dear ogre!"

"Ogerpon's so cute!"

"Who would call that thing a monster?"

"…Seems that I was wrong to worry so much," Hideko sheepishly admitted. "We should've let the past be the past and told everyone much sooner."

"I won't pretend all of us aren't to share the blame, since we just believed a bunch of old legends without digging any further, and then exploited it to lure in tourists," Nao reasoned. "And besides… who knows how easy it would've been to believe without young Kieran's spark of confidence and energy!"

Kieran was surprised when Carmine gave him a hard pat on the back.

"Who knew Kiki had it in him! Especially since he usually hates talking to people!"

"It was no big deal…" Kieran responded. "I just… I just hated that the ogre felt so scared of me and wanted to prove that I could be its hero."

Juliana put her hand on his shoulder. "You did a great thing, Kieran. Look at how happy it is!"

Ogerpon was so beaming at everyone's compliments that its starry eyes were lit up like real stars, and it couldn't stop bouncing around in joy.

"From now on, you can come to the village whenever you want, and you don't need to hide your face when you do!" Kieran smiled.

"Pon-yo!" Ogerpon smiled back at him.

"The three masks we kept at Kitakami Hall rightfully belonged to you all along, dear ogre," said Nao. "If you've managed to get them back from those three villains, please feel welcome to keep them."

"We got the masks back, and we managed to clear Ogerpon's name!" Carmine marveled. Her eyes started to well and her voice trembled. "I'm… I'm so happy."

"Hey… are you crying?" Juliana noticed.

"What? N-no I'm not!" she insisted, tears running down her eyes. "S-shut up! I just like a happy ending, okay?"

Seeing Carmine cry tears of joy made Juliana's own eyes feel a bit watery, which Carmine picked up on.

"Hey, don't you start! We can't sit here crying when we've still got one last thing to do! Let's escort Ogerpon back to its home."

"Together," Juliana added, glancing at Kieran.

"Right!" he nodded.

Ogerpon cheered out, and Juliana and Carmine both giggled in response. Kieran however, watched the two of them and began to frown again…

"Well, here we are!"

"Pon!"

Ogerpon cried out in delight to see its old home again, and ran up to the cave entrance.

Carmine giggled. "It's a bit lonely out here, but I guess this place must mean a lot to Ogerpon."

"Once something's been home to you for so many years, I guess that never really goes away," said Juliana.

She walked over to Ogerpon, trying to ignore the heavy feelings she could sense rising up within her. Juliana wanted to keep a happy face for the Mask Pokémon, even though what they were doing now felt really hard.

It's so crazy that we've bonded with Ogerpon so much, and now this is goodbye…

She knelt down to face Ogerpon. The ogre looked up at her with its bright starry eyes.

With a heavy sigh, she said, "This has been a lot of fun, Ogerpon. One of the best weeks of my life. I'll never ever forget this! So… take care—OK, Ogerpon?"

She gave a resounding fist pump to punctuate her goodbye.

"Po?" Ogerpon looked confused. Juliana stepped away while trying to give her best grin, even though she was holding back tears. Then Ogerpon, finally seeming to sense what was going on, ran back up to her crying. "Ponooo!"

It grabbed onto Juliana's legs, not wanting to let go.

"Ogerpon, wh-what are you doing?" Juliana begged, her eyes definitely welling up now. "I'll miss you too," she promised, giving Ogerpon a tight hug back.

Carmine looked between the two of them. She really took in just how inseparable the pair of them seemed.

"Hey… you know what?" she said softly. "This might be crazy, but—But I think… Ogerpon might want to go with you, Juliana."

"What?"

Ogerpon let go and cried out in joy. "Pon! Popon!"

"You—you do? You'd want to leave this place you call home just to… travel with me?" Juliana asked it, wiping away her tears. "To be honest… And I thought this was crazy too, I was—I was kind of hoping deep down inside that you would become my partner…"

Ogerpon just seemed to get more joyous about the idea.

Kieran's face began to change, from happy to sullen… He didn't seem to like what he was hearing.

As his facial muscles tinged, he began to ruminate on the whole day. Ogerpon's terrified face when it didn't want to accept Kieran's friendship… Contrasted to how attached it was to Juliana now.

Dark feelings were rising up within him. Feelings of jealousy, and envy, and resentment…

He thought back to the scene he had walked in on at Wysteria Pond. How Juliana, Ogerpon, and Carmine, his own sister Carmine, were having a picnic without him and laughing together.

It hadn't seemed to bother him before, but now all of a sudden, he began to think about it and wonder if they were laughing at him. Making fun of him.

Kieran didn't really believe that, of course but now… he felt his insecurities begin to consume him again. His mind boiling over, wanting nothing more but to act on what Kieran believed was the right course for him to take.

"Hey, hold up!" he shouted out of nowhere.

Juliana and Carmine looked over at him.

"Something wrong, Kiki?"

To their concern, he began scratching his head again like he did back at Loyalty Plaza.

"If it's not gonna stay here, then I… I wanna…" He trailed off for a second, but then shouted with a sudden sense of gusto, "I want Ogerpon to come with me!"

"What!?" Juliana uttered in shock.

"Kiki…" said Carmine, sounding extremely disappointed. "I thought you had let it go…"

"Pon?" Ogerpon seemed confused about everyone's change in tone, and felt a bit scared.

Juliana wanted to put a hand over it to comfort it, but now felt nervous about irritating Kieran further, especially since this was so out of left field for him.

Kieran gritted his teeth.

"I know I'm bein' real selfish, but… but you know how much the ogre means to me. That's why I put so much effort into making the village not scared of it anymore! I-I could be its friend and make it real happy! I'll use it in battle and we'll have so many fun adventures together!"

"I… I…" Juliana's heart felt split. She was so sure Ogerpon was asking to go with her… but she wasn't deaf to her friend's pleas either. "I didn't know how badly you wanted this…"

Now feeling indecisive, she looked at Ogerpon for affirmation. Ogerpon just gazed back at her and went "Pon?" with an oblivious smile.

Kieran drew out one of his Poké Balls. "Look! Let me battle you, okay? I want to see which one of us should get to keep Ogerpon with them!"

Carmine huffed. "Kiki, come on, that's not fair to Juliana!"

"Carmine…"

You should see how strongly the two of them have bonded with each other-"

"CARMINE!" Juliana shouted, startling her. Carmine hadn't heard her yell that loud before. "I really appreciate you stepping up to defend me, but… Kieran's got a point. He's basically grown up with Ogerpon his whole life, and… I only just knew it existed a few days ago."

She fidgeted with her hands. "Maybe, maybe if Kieran really wants it then… then perhaps I should give it to him, right?"

"What? No!" Carmine balked. "You would take away Ogerpon's freedom of choice just because Kiki asked for it?"

Juliana went sullen. "You're right—I'm sorry, I… I didn't think of it that way…"

Kieran looked gobsmacked.

"I can't believe it, sis… It's true…" He grabbed at his head in distress. "You really are siding with Juliana over me…"

"I'm not siding with anybody!" Carmine seethed. "If anything I-I'm siding with poor Ogerpon here!"

"Pon?"

"Look Kiki, I'm not saying I don't know where you're coming from on this. I know better than anyone how much you love the ogre. But… if you really love Ogerpon, then… don't you think you should value its feelings?"

"I-" This finally gave Kieran sufficient pause.

"That's what you both do, isn't it?" she said, turning to Juliana as well. "Putting the feelings of others, including in Pokémon, before your own?"

Juliana was stunned. Now only was her line of thinking apparently resonating with Carmine now, Carmine was actually challenging her on it!

"You're right, what—what have I been thinking? This is all about Ogerpon after all."

She sighed out all of her anxieties and faced Kieran.

"She's right, Kieran. Instead of battling, we… we should let Ogerpon decide."

"But I… I…"

Kieran wanted to argue. He really did. But… it was like the fog in his head that was keeping him so stubborn was clearing up. And he was being brought back down to reason.

He looked at Ogerpon, who was quietly swaying its arms around in the midst of their argument. It didn't understand what was going on. Of course it didn't.

And he thought really hard about when he was trying to hand the Mask back, and how Ogerpon seemed to be scared of him for some reason.

If I forced Ogerpon to go with me… would it always be so scared of me?

Juliana did make it all real happy…

But I swear I could make it happy too…!

Kieran stood there, deliberating furiously about what he truly wanted.

Finally, he let out a puff of air that sounded like his acquiescing.

"Okay… you win, sis."

"Really?" Even Carmine was a bit taken aback. "You'll let Ogerpon choose?"

"Yeah…" He looked at Juliana and tried to give the best smirk he could. "Ya know what? I still think I did a lot for Ogerpon that it should just choose me but…" He sighed heavily. "If—if after all that, it really wants to go with you Juliana then… then I'll try to be happy about it."

"Kieran…" Juliana said, sincerely touched.

After all this time, had she finally broken through both siblings' walls? Were both Carmine and Kieran coming around to caring about not just Ogerpon's feelings, but about hers?

"Kiki, I'm—I'm so proud of you," Carmine smiled warmly. "That settles it, then."

She picked up Ogerpon, who reacted with surprise at first but then cried cheerfully, and placed it down between Juliana and Kieran.

"I'll put Ogerpon in the center here and… whoever it wants to go to in the end, gets to keep it."

Ogerpon was now at the center of the cliffside to the Dreaded Den, Juliana standing on one side and Kieran standing on the other. Carmine stood between them like a referee.

"Pon yo pon?"

The small ogre looked around, stealing glances at both Juliana and Kieran.

Juliana knelt down and smiled.

"To tell you the truth, if… if you wanted to come with me, and have adventures in Paldea then… I would really love it a lot, Ogerpon. But if you want to give Kieran a chance to prove his love for you… then I'm fine with that too."

Kieran, touched at her sentiment, knelt down and smiled as well.

"Yeah. Umm… I've always, really admired you a whole lot… I think you're so cool, and brave and just… all around awesome. If you were my partner, I would always want to treat you right and keep ya happy. But… but Juliana's a really nice person. I know, I know she would do all of those things too."

Juliana almost felt like she was going to cry, holding both hands over her heart at Kieran's meaningful words.

"Pon… Ponnn…"

Ogerpon seemed to be taking its decision very seriously now. It glanced back and forth between the two of them, seemingly unable to decide who it wanted to run too.

It closed its eyes…

"Poyo… PONNN!"

With a burst of confidence, Ogerpon unsheathed its ivy cudgel, and leaped in the air. Then, after waving its cudgel mightily towards the sun, it finally landed squarely in someone's hands.

"WHAT!?" cried out two voices.

"No way…!"

"But—but…!"

"Huh!? Ogerpon, what's the deal?" Carmine exclaimed in confusion. "You're supposed to be choosing between Juliana or Kiki, not snuggling up to me!"

"Ponnn…" But Ogerpon wriggled around excitedly in Carmine's arms, and wrapped its arms around her shoulders to give her a huge hug.

"What are you doing? This wasn't in the cards at all. You're not making any sense unless… unless…"

Ogerpon looked up at Carmine with big eyes. Her own eyes began to glisten.

"Ogerpon, are you… are you saying that you want… me to be your partner?"

"Ponyo!"

Chapter Text

"Ogerpon, are you… are you saying that you want… me to be your partner?"

"Ponyo!"

Carmine was spellbound. Ogerpon swayed in her arms and smiled happily.

"I… I…"

Juliana had her hands over her mouth.

"I didn't see that coming at all… It chose you, Carmine."

"What? No!" said Carmine, flustered. "I mean, I'm flattered and all. I'm super pretty and courageous, after all. A perfect fit for a mighty warrior such as Ogerpon! But…"

She gently set Ogerpon to the ground. Ogerpon stood there and smiled happily at her, kicking its feet to a rhythm.

"I think Ogerpon might just be confused. I'm pretty sure it chose you, Juliana."

Juliana shook her head. "No… I don't think so. It makes sense. You and Ogerpon bonded a lot when we were out getting the Masks."

"We did?"

"Yeah! You two were celebrating beating up those bullies together, you picked those uma-boshi plums togeth—"

"Umeboshi," Carmine corrected her again.

"Yeah, those! And, and… well I don't know. You called it adorable so many times."

Carmine blushed.

"I think… I think, anyone who spent all that time with you doing those things and having you call them cute all day long, they would totally want to be with you forever!" Juliana reasoned.

"Pon! Pon yo!"

Carmine glanced at Ogerpon again, who seemed to be jumping up and down in agreement.

"Ogerpon…" she said softly.

"No, no, no!" came a sudden, sharp voice.

They all turned to look at Kieran.

His expression and entire demeanor had changed completely. His hands were shaking in rage, and his face looked like it was about to pull a muscle.

"This isn't how it was supposed to happen at all!" He barked in a loud, dumbstruck tone. "After all the work I did to make you like me and wanna be my friend, you… you chose my SIS!?"

Juliana looked distressed. Kieran had made a complete 180 in attitude from just seconds ago. Ogerpon, seeming to sense something amiss about the Kitakamite boy again, began to look scared and ducked behind Juliana.

"Kiki, what's gotten into you?" asked a despondent Carmine. "I thought you said you were fine with whoever Ogerpon chose. You were okay with it going to Juliana, but… not your own sister?"

Kieran stomped his foot.

"Well yeah, because Juliana was always nice and at least said she cared about the ogre as soon as I first told her about it! I… I was already kind of thinking she'd be a better trainer for Ogerpon than me…"

Kieran started to ruffle his hair again, this time more furiously than ever before. Juliana had a hand to her mouth, feeling beyond concerned for his mental state.

He pointed a finger accusingly towards Carmine.

"But, but… you've never done anything but make fun of me for liking the ogre! And you've spent your whole life thinking it was the villain, and—and going around every festival wearing that mask of Munkidori, who killed its partner!" His yellow eyes were practically piercing through Carmine's soul. "And now! After all that!? Between the three of us, y-you probably deserve to be with the ogre the least!"

"Kiki, come on…" Carmine was breathing heavily now. She scrunched her face and started speaking from her heart. "You're right! Okay? I admit it, you're totally right! I let myself fall for the village's lies, and I poked fun at you when you were the only one of us smart enough to see through it all. It was wrong of me, and I'm totally sorry for that! I've got a lot to repay. But… you don't have to be so hurtful."

Kieran balked and grunted in bitter anger.

"ME!? Being so hurtful!?" He growled. "I'm the only one who's always been honest all the time! I never lie or do anything for myself! And what do I get for that!? NOTHING! Meanwhile, you two scheme and lie and leave me out of everything and now the ogre's your best friend!"

"Kieran, we were never scheming against you!" Juliana insisted. "I thought we already explained that to you!"

Kieran was grinding his teeth so hard they threatened to shatter. He grasped at his head, feeling almost completely suffocated by his hurt feelings.

"I just… I don't know what to believe anymore! I'm so tired of being strung along! You've been at the wheel this whole time Juliana, and I-I've just been along for the ride! I'm so tired of it!"

He cringed several times like he was close to crying. But all his anger slowly started giving way to despair, and he found himself dropping to his knees.

His head slumped down, and he punched the ground.

"Just… just do what ya want. I give up," he mumbled.

"Kiki…"

Juliana wanted to say something else, but Kieran seemed to be swimming in his own head now, not glancing up at anyone anymore.

And she heard a noise from behind her.

"Pon…?"

Ogerpon peeked out from behind Juliana, trying to gauge if all the arguing had ceased.

"I'm so sorry, Ogerpon," Carmine apologized. "You shouldn't have to feel afraid because of something that isn't your fault. Or for making your own decisions."

She gave Ogerpon some gentle head pats, which seemed to put the small Pokémon at ease again. Juliana watched all of this affectionately, beginning to feel a little better too.

"If… you really want me to be your partner, then I can promise I'll take good care of you. I just… I just want to be sure it's what you want." Carmine motioned for Juliana to stand next to her. "Between the two of us, who do you really want?"

She held out her hand, and nudged for Juliana to hold hers out too.

Ogerpon looked back and forth at both hands with an indecisive face.

Then, adopting a smile, it grabbed Carmine's hand, and Juliana's hand, and put them together as it beamed happily at the two girls.

"Pon-pon!"

"Awwww, so cute!"

"And… very much not helpful," Carmine lamented.

Then, Ogerpon's eyebrows flared.

It jumped several paces back, fished out its Hearthflame Mask and put it on. Then it unsheathed its ivy cudgel and gave the two a cry of determined courage.

"Huh? Now what is it doing?"

"I think… Ogerpon wants a battle!" Carmine deduced.

"Pon yooo!"

Ogerpon used its cudgel to point at both girls.

"Does it… want us both to fight it?"

"Of course!" said Carmine. "After watching the two of us team up to beat all those Lousy Three, Ogerpon must want to test our strength as a unit! Let's do this, Juliana!"

She nodded to Juliana, who nodded back. They both sent out their Poké Balls, with Carmine summoning her trusty Mightyena while Juliana sent out Ceruledge.

"Let's show Ogerpon what we're made of!" Carmine declared.

"Ponnn…"

Then, Ogerpon did something incredible. Concentrating with all of its power, it began to summon up the Terastal energy emanating all around it.

Carmine gasped. "Is it…?"

TURA-PO-GOO!

"It's Terastallizing!"

A huge cluster of Tera Crystals surrounded Ogerpon. But when they broke out… things were truly different.

It wasn't just that Ogerpon was encased in crystals.

Stunningly, its Hearthflame Mask had changed shape and grown in massive size!

The mask was so huge that Ogerpon was almost completely obscured from behind it. And rather than being a weathered old mask, it now looked like a huge, terrifying face with enlarged horns and tusks, and a wonderous cloak of squiggly flames enveloped all around it.

Juliana and Carmine both gasped in awe.

"It Terastallized its mask!? I've never seen a Pokémon be able to change its own shape when it Terastallizes!"

"So this is what Ogerpon's truly capable of…" Carmine observed.

"Wowzers…" They even heard Kieran make a remark from where he was slumped, but watching with a small bit of vigor.

"You're just so full of surprises, Ogerpon!" Carmine marveled.

"It's sure got a lot of tricks up its sleeve! But we do too! Right, Ceruledge?" Juliana nodded to her partner. "Go for a Flame Charge!"

"Ceru!" Ceruledge gathered a bunch of flames at its disposal and began charging forward towards Ogerpon.

Carmine gave a cocky laugh at Ogerpon. "You think you've got tricks? Betcha didn't know my Mightyena knows a Fire-type move! Now, my loyal pet! Give it a nice Fire Fang!"

Mightyena barked fiercely and jumped into the air to deliver its flame-charged fangs towards Ogerpon. Both Pokémon made their impact at the same time.

But… somehow, neither attack did much to harm Ogerpon and it shrugged off the flames like it was nothing.

"Our attacks did nothing to it!" an astonished Juliana cried out.

"What!?" Carmine gasped. "But how! They were Fire attacks! And I was so sure Ogerpon is a Grass Pokémon!"

"Pon-pon…" Ogerpon responded by raising its Ivy Cudgel in the air. The viny weapon began to get supercharged with fire power… "OOOGIEPON!" …and it slammed the giant club over Mightyena, severely wounding it.

"Did it just attack with FIRE!?" Carmine reacted.

Kieran mumbled something out to both of them.

"What?"

With a sigh, Kieran raised his head up and inched a little closer to the battle.

"Umm, according to the legends…" He mumbled weakly. "Ogerpon draws power from those masks. In one of the old diaries I found in Grandpa's cabinet, i-it said that Ogerpon was even able to change its Type when it wore one."

"Wowwwwwww," they both said.

"So that's Ogerpon's real power!" Juliana said in amazement.

"You've got so many cool gimmicks…!" Carmine marveled. "If someone were to have you as their Pokémon, and figure out how to use that power to its fullest potential, the two of you would be unstoppable!"

Ogerpon made a cute noise, and Carmine was sure it was blushing from behind its giant crystallized mask.

"We still won't go down without a fight though!" she maintained. "Mightyena, use Bite!"

"GROWLL!"

Mightyena leapt and laid a nasty bite on Ogerpon through its mask, which was enough for Ogerpon to flinch while trying to counter-attack.

But it quickly regrouped itself and instead sent a huge swing of its fire-powered cudgel Ceruledge's way.

"Ceruledge, watch out!" called Juliana.

"Ceru!" Ceruledge shielded itself with its dual ghostly blades and braced for impact.

The cudgel hit, but Ceruledge seemed to not just tank, but completely absorb the impact and became covered in flames.

"Woah! I didn't know you could do that, big guy!"

"Your Ceruledge must have the Ability Flash Fire!" Carmine observed.

"Flash Fire?"

"Yeah! Instead of being hit by Fire-type moves, it absorbs the flames and uses them to charge itself up!"

"Woah! That's incredible! Then Ceruledge! Put that cool Ability to use and give it another Flame Charge!"

Ceruledge took a fighting stance, and charged to Ogerpon again. Having already increased its agility with its first charge, Ogerpon barely even had a second to react as Ceruledge unleashed all its bottled-up flames against the Mask Pokémon, coating it in a burning blaze of red and blue.

"Ponn…!"

Ogerpon seemed severely weakened from Ceruledge's onslaught and ready to faint.

"I think we've just about won!" said Carmine. "All that's left is to go in for the kill! Mightyena, Take Down!"

Mightyena lunged forward and pounced Ogerpon with great force. The recoil from this move caused Mightyena to faint, but it also successfully finished Ogerpon.

The crystallized mask shattered into glittering pieces, and Ogerpon was left both maskless and incredibly dazed.

"We've done it!" Carmine cheered.

Juliana was about to agree. But then, Ogerpon quickly snapped out of its daze. The memories of watching Juliana when she first arrived to Kitakami, and going on adventures with her to recover its masks gave Ogerpon strength, and it slapped on its Wellspring Mask.

"What!? It put on another mask?" Kieran reacted.

TURA-PO-GOO!

Then the familiar sound of Terastallizing reverberated, and it began to encase itself in crystals again.

"And it's Terastallizing again!?" Carmine gasped.

This time when Ogerpon emerged, its Wellspring Mask had grown in size just like the Hearthflame, now sporting a giant melancholy face with teardrops made out of crystals, and a stream of water-like energy enveloped around it.

"No way!" said Juliana. "Carmine, I… I think the only way you're going to catch Ogerpon is if we defeat it when it's used up all of its masks!"

Carmine gulped. "Well, so much for me thinking this was gonna be a piece of cake…"

Fully powered up again, Ogerpon's cudgel bristled with energy once more. But this time, it was surrounded by waves and bubbles as Ogerpon used it to strike Ceruledge.

Clearly, this was a different power, because not only did it impact the Fire Blades Pokémon directly, but it was a strong enough hit to knock Ceruledge out and force Juliana to recall it.

"If it defeated your Ceruledge in one shot like that… it must be wielding the power of Water now!" Carmine guessed. "Well I've got just the teammate to take care of that! Morpeko, go!"

Carmine's Morpeko chirped happily as it entered into battle.

"Water, huh? Then… who else but Sprigatito! Err, I mean Floragato!"

Juliana sent out her Floragato. Carmine's Morpeko, upon seeing Floragato, jumped in the air and Floragato responded with a fist bump.

"Awww, look how well our Pokémon have bonded!" Carmine gushed.

"Ogerpon's seen us use these two together to take down the Loyal—I mean, Lousy Three. Let's hope it hasn't picked up all our strategies."

"Hah, strategize against this! Morpeko, give 'em a good Aura Wheel!"

Morpeko started running in place until it had generated a hamster wheel of pure electricity and slammed at Ogerpon with it, electrifying the Mask Pokémon.

Ogerpon wasn't frazzled however, and used its grassy powers to set up a wide field of Grassy Terrain, instantly regenerating its health.

Then it leapt from behind its mask and hit Morpeko with a Low Kick. The tiny rodent, weak to the Fighting move's power, was left severely weakened and in a daze, practically on the verge of fainting.

"Oh no, my little Peko! Hang in there!"

"Floragato! Use Seed Bomb!"

Floragato generated a bunch of huge power-packed seeds and pelted Ogerpon with them, causing big explosions which rocked the small ogre and its mask.

"Yes!" Juliana clenched her fist. "This one's in the bag!"

But Ogerpon wasn't going to go down easy. It used the Grassy Terrain to restore its health and hit Floragato with a Slam attack, doing some pretty decent damage.

"I think my Morpeko's all worn out… this one might be all up to you, Juliana."

Floragato breathed in the stream of grassy air, and regained some of its strength. Juliana commanded it to use another Seed Bomb, and this time the natural minefield was too much for Ogerpon, whose Wellspring Mask completely burst.

"That was really close… I'd better trade Morpeko for my Poltchageist before it faints," said Carmine as she switched out her Pokémon.

"That's another mask down!" Juliana celebrated.

Kieran had picked himself up and was standing closer to watch the battle.

"Man. You really are good, Juliana…" His head slumped. "I'm no match."

"Don't say that, Kieran. Of course you are."

He pouted and turned his head away.

Ogerpon was caught in a daze again. But, with Morpeko and Floragato bringing back memories of being at Wysteria Pond, having collected all of its masks and gathering plums together with Carmine before they all had a fun picnic, Ogerpon's confidence was spurred again, and this time, it donned the Cornerstone Mask.

TURA-PO-GOO!

It Terastallized once again. The crystallized Cornerstone Mask looked like a giant, whimsical face adorned with very long horns over its eyes and black tusks over its mouth. Huge tendrils that resembled dreadlocks surrounded Ogerpon now.

"Your masks are too cute to scare us, Ogerpon!" Carmine declared.

"What Type are you this time, Ogerpon? Rock?" Juliana guessed. Ogerpon only gave a mischievous noise in response. "Well, let's bet on that! Floragato, another Seed Bomb! The strongest one you can give!"

Floragato, with fierce determination, launched a huge bevy of exploding seeds at Ogerpon. They shook the whole ground with terrifying booms, which should've been enough to make Ogerpon faint on the spot.

But Ogerpon stood firm with only a sliver of its health left.

"What!? It survived all that?"

Carmine gasped. "Does Ogerpon have Sturdy as an Ability while it's using that Mask!?"

Ogerpon, weathering the attack with its incredible Defense and Sturdy Ability, went for a final Slam attack on Floragato. And this time, Floragato fell to the impact.

"You did great, Floragato…" Juliana assured. "This is getting real tight. Go, Cutiefly!"

Carmine's eyes went wide. "Wait! Cutiefly!?"

Cutiefly chirped happily as it came out.

"A tiny little Bug against that thing's Rock Moves!? What's the plan!?"

Juliana looked like a Deerling in headlights.

"Wait… is Bug weak to Rock or something?"

"OGIIIIEEEEE!"

Suddenly thirsty for blood, Ogerpon's ivy cudgel became infused with the power of the mountains, and it slammed down on Cutiefly, knocking the poor little bug out instantaneously.

"Does that answer your question?" Carmine facepalmed. "Aren't they teaching you anything about battling at that school?"

"Sorry, my mistake," Juliana said sheepishly.

"Well, no surprise. It's up to your shining hero Carmine to make up for your mistakes. Poltchageist, go for a super-powerful Energy Ball!"

Poltchageist charged up a ball of green energy and hurled it at Ogerpon. Ogerpon took the attack with gusto, thanks to the health it regenerated from its Grassy Terrain, and charged its cudgel again.

It slammed the cudgel on Poltchageist… and Poltchageist dropped its stick and went down.

"What!?" Carmine seethed.

As if on cue, the terrain that just protected Ogerpon dissipated too.

"How did it go down that fast?" Juliana wondered. Then she realized something. "You did… heal up your Pokémon after the battles with the Lousy Three, right Carmine?"

"Urk!" Carmine gritted her teeth in embarrassment. "Well… there was a lot going on after that and—and shut up! You and your picnic distracted me! Anyway… go Swadloon!"

"Swaddle!"

"…Isn't Swadloon a Bug-type too?"

"It's Bug and GRASS!" Carmine snarled. "So it won't go down like a chump the way your Cutiefly did!"

Juliana recoiled, which made Carmine instantly regret saying that.

"Ugh. I'm sorry… the stress of this battle is getting to me. I just, I really want to prove myself to Ogerpon…"

"I understand."

Maybe Carmine wants Ogerpon more than she realizes…

Juliana sent out Mienfoo, hoping its Fighting moves would counter the hard-as-rock Ogerpon.

"Fuu!"

Luckily, Ogerpon set its sights on Swadloon instead, going for another rock-powered Ivy Cudgel. Swadloon took a brutal hit from the attack, but not enough to leave it weak.

"Swaddle!"

Swadloon went for a Trailblaze attack while Mienfoo laid a Force Palm on Ogerpon, doing a lot of damage to the point that the crystals over its enlarged mask were starting to chip.

"We've got it on the ropes now, Juliana!"

But Ogerpon wasn't about to let its guard down, and directed its Ivy Cudgel to Mienfoo now, severely crippling the Martial Arts Pokémon.

"Fooooo…"

"Awww, Mienfoo!" Carmine frowned. "We have to avenge our friend, Swadloon! That Trailblazing should have you moving like a missile! Hit it with Razor Leaf before it strikes again!"

"Swaaaad… LOON!"

Carmine's Swadloon hit with great speed and agility, and Ogepron found itself in a shower of leaves sharp as razor blades.

"Ponnn…!"

This was the final straw for the Cornerstone Mask, which shattered into pieces like the rest.

"Did we do it?" Carmine asked excitedly. "Is that it!?"

Kieran cleared his throat. "It's got one more mask, remember?"

Ogerpon did almost stumble down, having been knocked down three times for the count. But then, it shut its eyes, and accessed some of its most inner memories.

It remembered its partner from long, long ago. The memories they shared. The kindness. All the fun adventures. Being alone in the world together.

…The smile it would never forget.

"OHHH-PON!"

With one last rallying cry, Ogerpon fished out its final mask: the Teal Mask.

TURA-PO-GOO!

And it Terastallized one last time, displaying that huge grinning ogre face that dotted so much of Kitakami's signboards and legends.

"Okay… so this is really it! Good thing Swadloon's also a Bug-type! This is the break I was looking for!" Carmine said confidently. "Let's go for Struggle Bug!"

"SWAD!"

Swadloon unleashed all its Bug energy Ogerpon's way, doing a significant amount of damage.

"That's gonna be our ticket to victory, Carmine!" Juliana said excitedly.

"Yo pon?"

Ogerpon braced its legs, and laid a Slam attack into Swadloon with the full force of its mask.

Carmine gasped.

This desperation move was too much for Swadloon… and it was down.

"Oh no…" Carmine worried.

Juliana grew desperate too. "Quick, Mienfoo! We need to Terastallize!"

She took out her Tera Orb, and let energy build up inside of it before tossing it over her Mienfoo.

TURA-PO-GOO!

Mienfoo burst into its Terastallized form, complete with a huge fist-shaped crown on top of its head. Ogerpon gave a taunting cry, seeming to welcome the challenge.

"Before it tries anything else, go for a Tera power-packed Force Palm!"

"Mien!" Mienfoo's Tera Crown glistened with Fighting-type energy. "Mien… FOO!"

Mienfoo laid the most powerful Force Palm it could upon Ogerpon, which did a healthy amount of damage.

But Ogerpon still stood, and now it realized where it needed to focus the rest of its energy on.

"Grrr…" It growled.

It took out its ivy cudgel once more, which became powered up by Ogerpon's natural Grass energy.

"Grrrr… PON!"

This time, the slam from Ogerpon's cudgel was brutal. It recognized the strength of the Terastallized Mienfoo, and wasn't going to hold back anymore.

"Mien?"

SLAAAAAM!

The whole mountainside was rocked by the impact, and Juliana was crushed, but not surprised, to see Mienfoo on the ground afterwards with big swirls in its eyes.

"Mienfoo… return," she said glumly.

Carmine was looking at her with an anxious expression.

"Pleeeease tell me you still have your Jangmo-o or something."

Juliana winced.

"I uh… I might've… forgotten to heal it up after it fainted to Munkidori."

"And you were just criticizing ME for that!?" Carmine seethed. "All I have left is my Morpeko and it's as good as dead!"

She threw out her Poké Ball and sent Morpeko out again… who struggled so much to stand that it plopped on its little butt, and growled softly while in its Hangry Mode.

"Haven't you got one more Pokémon?"

"Well… yeah."

"Then what are you waiting for!?"

Juliana gulped, and wordlessly sent out her last Pokémon into battle.

"Woop WOOP!" her Johtonian Wooper cried out happily.

Carmine's jaw dropped.

"Oh, we are so toast." Her fists were shaking. "Morpeko, please do something…!"

"Peko?"

Morpkeo lifted its nose in the air… and then it sprinted into Ogerpon's den.

"What the—WHERE ARE YOU GOING!?" Carmine shouted. "When I said do something, I didn't mean to run away! You little coward!"

Juliana just looked completely sullen now.

She raised a finger apprehensively. "Wooper… U-use… Water Gun?"

"Woop!"

Wooper quickly, and blissfully, spurted out a tiny splash of water at Ogerpon.

Ogerpon didn't even stumble.

"Ogerrrrrrrr…" it laughed mischievously. It raised its cudgel once more and made a huge leap.

Wooper looked up, still smiling, seemingly oblivious to the horrific fate that awaited it.

"This is really it…" Juliana moaned.

Ogerpon came down, gunning for Wooper. But just as it was about to make impact…

"Morrrrrr-PEKO!"

Carmine's Morpeko suddenly appeared out of nowhere and kicked Ogerpon away.

"PON!?"

"Morpeko!?" Carmine gasped.

Ogerpon's Cudgel went flying into the air, and landed smack-dab into the ground.

"Ponyooooo…!"

Ogerpon ran desperately to where its cudgel landed, and tried with all its might to pull it out of the ground.

Carmine was flustered. "I—I don't know what happened, but Morpeko looks all healthy again! And that was the most powerful kick I've ever seen it give!"

"I think I know…" Kieran muttered.

"You do?" said Juliana.

He looked into Ogerpon's cave and saw a bunch of eaten-off berry stems and cores on the ground.

"Yeah… when you and I were up here the other day, by ourselves, I… I took a look inside the ogre's cave and saw it was stockpiling Berries."

As Kieran explained this, he grasped something in his pocket, and briefly sported a look of guilt on his face.

"It—it must've been storing them for winter or somethin'…"

"Ohhh, that's why your Morpeko ran away, Carmine… It smelled the Berries!"

"Morpeko's a Pokémon that's always got one mind on its belly…" Carmine noted. "If it gobbled up all those Berries, it must be super powered up now!"

With a cry of "Pon!", Ogerpon finally dislodged its cudgel from the ground.

"Let's wrap this up before Ogerpon attacks again! Morpeko, run like your life depends on it… into a powerful Aura Wheel!"

Morpeko did as instructed, and started running like an athlete to generate a huge wheel of dark power.

"Mor! Mor! Mor! Mor! MORRRRR…"

Ogerpon trembled.

"MORPEKO!"

Morpeko unleashed the wheel at full power, and it slammed into Ogerpon and its crystallized mask with a huge burst.

The Teal Mask shattered.

Ogerpon fell off of its feet… and landed on the ground, completely fainted.

"Ponnnn…"

Morpeko let out a huge burp, and smiled again as it transformed back into Full Belly Mode.

"You did it…" Juliana said breathlessly. She started shaking Carmine's shoulders. "You really did it, Carmine!"

"I—Well, of course I did! Was there ever any doubt?" Carmine laughed cathartically.

"Use a Poké Ball! Hurry!"

"Right! Umm…" Carmine frantically looked through her bag, and felt her uniform pockets. "Uhh—umm, oh no!"

"Are you all out of Poké Balls?"

"No! I came prepared! I just… don't… remember, where—"

"Use this!"

Juliana handed her a special Poké Ball from her own bag. It was green with red spots on the top of it.

Carmine took it. "What kind of Poké Ball is this?"

"It's a Friend Ball! I got it from a special auction at a place called Porto Marinada! Come on, hurry and use it!"

Carmine heeded her words and tossed the Friend Ball at Ogerpon. The Friend Ball converted Ogerpon into energy and dropped to the ground as it shook.

Wiggle.

Wiggle.

"Come on…"

Wiggle.

…

Click.

Carmine grabbed the Ball and held it proudly in the air.

"Yes! We did it! We caught Ogerpon together!"

"And now it's all yours!" Juliana said, shaking Carmine's arm again.

Carmine pulled her back. "Mine? But we caught it with your Ball. Doesn't that make it yours?"

"Well… no?"

Juliana tried to wrap her head around this.

"I don't… I don't think whose Ball it was matters as, long as you're the one who threw it?" She appeared genuinely confounded. "I mean… every Poké Ball is given to us by someone else… right? Umm…"

A soft clapping cut through their confusion.

Kieran calmly walked up to the two of them.

"Con… Congratulations, sis…" He said with a shaky throat.

"T-thanks, Kiki."

Carmine took her Rotom Phone out and got the Pokédex app opened up.

"It's all yours, now. You and the ogre, forever…"

"Hang on now, Kiki," said Carmine, as she scanned Ogerpon's Ball with her phone. "We still haven't even figured out who actually caught it." Her eyes widened. "Wait…"

"But, whichever one of us it is…" Juliana tried to assure him. "Will take very good care of it. You can be sure of that."

Kieran's head dropped down. "Yeah…"

"SQUEEE!"

Carmine suddenly made a loud noise out of nowhere and looked really happy all of a sudden.

"Huh? What's going on?" Juliana asked.

"My Pokédex says that Ogerpon's a GIRL!" Carmine assessed. "She's one of the pack! Our cute little spunky warrior girl! That makes me so excited!"

"Awwww. I don't know why but… I guess I felt the girl power coming off of Ogerpon the whole time," Juliana giggled.

Kieran sighed.

"Why… why can't I be like you, Juliana?"

Juliana titled her head. "Huh? What do you mean… like me?"

He looked up sadly at her. "I mean, Sis, I get. She's real strong and all. Always has been. I thought that was just the perk of her bein' older than me and more experienced and all. But… you said you've only been a Trainer for how long? A couple months?"

Juliana looked sheepish.

"And… and yet you led everything, and the ogre decided you were just as worthy as my Sis after only knowing you for a day. It's not fair…"

Juliana felt guilty, and tried to lay her hand on his shoulder.

"Kieran… I wish you'd stop putting yourself down so much. You're plenty strong too—"

But Kieran violently brushed her away.

"No." His face started to stiffen again. "No, you can just stop pretending. I can't beat either of you in a fight. And now… now I understand why the ogre didn't pick me."

His foot began to dig into the ground, kicking up dirt.

"It's because I'm weak. And the ogre knows it. It took one look at me, when we first met it… and it judged me just the same as everyone else who says I'm nothing but a big baby. Pathetic little Kieran…"

"Who's been saying that stuff, Kiki?" Carmine demanded to know. "You should've told me sooner people were pushing you around like that, and I would've kicked their butts all the way to Sinnoh!"

Kieran slowly turned his head to Carmine with a hint of a glare.

"You lookin' for a vacation, sis?"

"…What?"

His fists began to shake again. He tried to get a hold of his thoughts, but could feel himself getting more and more angsty.

"It's useless… You two will never understand. I shouldn't even be breathin' the same air as you until I… I…"

He trailed off.

Juliana tried to reach her hand out.

"Kieran… Come on. We can get stronger together. I made a promise to you, remember? No matter what, we'll always be—"

"STOP IT!" He shouted. "JUST STOP IT!"

Juliana recoiled her hand, taken aback at his sudden outburst. She was trying not to, but she could feel her eyes beginning to well up.

There was a shadow of a moment when Kieran looked at her, and felt a tinge of guilt…

And then…

"Uwaaaaaaaaah!"

Without another word, Kieran left them.

He took off down the mountain path with his hands covering his eyes, howling in grief so loud it echoed across the whole mountain.

Juliana didn't know how to react. She futilely reached her hand out in the direction he ran… and let it go limp.

She didn't know what she had done wrong to lead Kieran down this path. He had forgiven her for lying to him, right? And she had kept telling him all the way that he was a strong Trainer too… so why was he this consumed with doubt?

"…What did I do wrong?" she asked, her voice shaking. "I—I just want us to be friends…"

She felt a pair of hands start gently massaging her shoulders.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Juliana. I promise. He's just… he gets like that. If I had a Poké Dollar for every time Kiki got mad at me for no reason, and then was all smiles and sunshine the next day, I'd be as rich as the Glitterati. Give it a day, and he'll be fine…"

Juliana didn't see, but Carmine's face was a bit forlorn, like she wasn't entirely sure if she believed her own words.

"I don't know Carmine. This seems… different. He seems really stuck in his own head now."

"He'll get over it." A small sniffle. "I promise."

Kieran marched straight home and slammed his door.

Leaning against the door, he took a huge, heavy sigh.

"Why does nothing go right for me… Why have you taken everything from me?"

His fists were all balled up in rage, and he needed something, anything, to ease his pain.

He spotted the giant Furret pillow sitting on his bed. It was so huge it was even taller than him.

"Juliana… Sis…"

He hesitated for a moment. Then… he punched the pillow. And punched it again. And again. And again.

"Why. Why. WHY. WHY. WHY!"

With Juliana and Carmine still in disagreement over who actually had Ogerpon as their partner now, a discussion of who would at least be keeping her for the night as they walked down Reveler's Road back into town.

"Ogerpon deserves a proper bed for tonight after all those years it spent alone in that damp old cave. But I don't think I could take her home with me…" Carmine lamented. "Kiki's probably still upset, and the last thing I want to do is set him off even further…"

The conversation at some point shifted to Juliana admitting that she hadn't been sleeping very well most of the nights she's been on Kitakami.

"Well, no wonder you've got so many wrinkles!" said Carmine, poking at her face. "You haven't been getting any of that valuable beauty sleep!"

"I haven't gotten any wrinkles!" she protested.

"No, but those bags under your eyes are big enough that I should toss my Berries into them for that Ogre Oustin' high score!" Carmine teased.

Then she had a thoughtful look.

"Y'know, if you've got trouble sleeping… maybe all you need is a friend."

And that's how Juliana found herself sprucing up her room at the community center for both Ogerpon and her to be satisfied.

She plugged a nightlight she brought from home into the wall. Passed down from her mother, it bore the design of an exotic Pokémon from Galar that used to be her mom's favorite, called Butterfree.

"There we go. I don't really need a nightlight to sleep anymore but… it'd probably do you some good to have somewhere not all cold and dark to sleep in for once, huh?"

"Pon! Pon!"

Ogerpon thumped the blanket like a happy toddler.

Juliana stood there in her PJ's and giggled.

"You're pretty excited to snuggle up, huh? Guess that makes two of us!"

Juliana chuckled warmly as she turned off the lamp on her nightstand and climbed into bed.

"Pon! Pon yo!" Ogerpon cried excitedly, laying her arm over Juliana as she tucked them both in.

"Hee-hee. I don't know why, but I'm so glad you're a girl. It just… it fits you so well."

Ogerpon blushed and giggled to herself.

"We've both had a long day, huh? Here's to even more exciting adventures tomorrow!" said Juliana. "Until then, let's hope for a warm and pleasant sleep for the both of us. Good night, Ogerpon."

"Pon…" Ogerpon yawned.

Within a matter of minutes, the two had closed their eyes and were drifting off into dreamland.

After seeing Juliana and Ogerpon off at the community center, Carmine was left alone to walk back up the road to her house itself.

She certainly didn't mind being alone at night. She'd often gone for walks around the town in her youth when she couldn't sleep.

But… there was a lot on her head now. Between Ogerpon seemingly wanting to go with her, Kieran's outburst, and… for some reason, a lot of worry over Juliana and her sleeplessness, Carmine sort of wished for the kind of company that would distract her from all that.

Nonetheless, she made it home with a brave smile on her face as she greeted her grandparents on the porch.

"Hi, Grandma and Grandpa. Sorry I'm home a little late. I had to make sure my friend got back to the community place okay."

Carmine had to pause. She didn't know why, but calling Juliana her friend made a warm feeling rise up in her chest.

"We're just glad you made it home safe, dearie," Yukito smiled.

"Kieran said that you actually managed to catch the ogre for yourself!" said Hideko. "Is it true, Carmine?"

Carmine winced. "Well… sort of. It's complicated. But yeah."

"I was kind of hoping maybe the ogre would want to travel with you, or your friend. It seems like it has grown really attached to the both of you."

Carmine smiled at that, but frowned again when she thought of her brother.

"…How's Kiki doing?"

Her grandparents glanced at each other, both looking rather sullen.

"The poor dear's shut himself in his room ever since he came home," Yukito said. "Wouldn't even come out for dinner."

"And I suppose the news we were given to share didn't lift his mood much, neither."

"News? …What news?"

Hideko's face was glum, and Carmine had a bad feeling in her gut.

"That nice Briar lady from your school came to visit us while you were gone," Yukito explained.

With a sad face, Hideko told her, "Apparently… you two are going back tomorrow."

Carmine's face fell.

Chapter Text

Carmine woke up bright and early at around eight o'clock. After getting a good morning stretch going, she spent the next half-hour doing the rest of her routine: shower, then her hair and makeup, putting on her uniform, followed by one last set of stretches just to keep herself limber.

She stepped out of her bedroom to grace the world with her beauty once more, and instantly heard a bunch of Cutiefly buzzing outside her window, along with a few Volbeat.

Carmine hung on the windowsill taking in the beauty of her homeland. But thinking about Kitakami quickly reminded her of what was going on today… and her good mood seemed to vanish.

She walked past the door to her brother's room, all quiet inside. Which made sense. He often got up last out of everyone in the family, even now.

As she made her way to the kitchen, she smelled something delicious: her grandmother's famous Shakshuka stew.

"Good morning, Carmine!" Yukito greeted her.

"Mornin', Grandma. Is that your egg stew I smell cooking?"

"Sure is, sweetie! I figured you two deserved my best cooking before you head out again!"

Carmine's smile drooped. "…Right."

Steam began to rise over the stovepot her grandmother was using. She lifted the lid and began to stir.

"I think the stew's just about ready. Could you please let Kiki now?"

"Hmm? I thought he was still asleep."

"Oh no, I heard him moving about earlier, but didn't want to disturb him in case he still wasn't feeling great. But we can't let him skip out on breakfast, can we?"

"Aye-aye."

Carmine walked over to Kieran's room and knocked.

"Kiki? You in there?"

She started opening the door… but only made it about an inch in before it was swiftly slammed in her face. Papers from Kieran's desk flew about in a gust, and Carmine's face went up in shock before becoming indignant.

"Why, you…!" She tried jostling the door open again, but Kieran had locked it. "Kiki, open up! Gram says you need to have your breakfast!" She softly kicked the door with her foot. "C'mon!"

But there was no response.

Carmine huffed as she picked up all the drawings off the floor.

"Fine, be that way! Have fun starving while I eat all of your stew."

She marched back into the kitchen and angrily took a seat.

"He won't come out of his room, Gram," Carmine informed her.

Her face was still angry, but as she sat at the table and let her thoughts run, it began to look sadder and sadder until her grandmother walked over and noticed her downpour.

"Ohhh. Sweetie, what's wrong?"

"Huh? …Nothing," she muttered.

Yukito crossed her arms. "Grandma always sees through your lies. Are you upset about Kieran, honey? Did we do something wrong?"

Carmine shook her head. "Mmm, no. It's not that. Kiki… or you guys. I just…" She slumped her head. "I don't know."

Yukito nodded. "You're thinking about your friend, aren't you?"

Carmine perked her head up. She imagined Juliana's smiling face… and realized that truly was chief in her mind right now.

"I don't know why I'm so upset. I guess… I should just forget about her. I mean, Paldea's so far away. From here and from Unova. Odds are I'll probably never see her again anyway."

Yukito went to her tea kettle and poured some tea into a black cup, which she set in front of Carmine. Carmine peered in.

"Heh. Green tea. You're like a witch, Gram. You always know what I need before I say anything. …I'm gonna miss that too."

She took a slow sip of the warm green tea, as Yukito tended to the stew again.

"A friendship is a hard thing to break, Carmine. The only thing that can let the two of you drift apart is if you let that happen. And I've seen you two together, dear. In the short time you and… sorry?"

"Juliana," she chuckled.

"Right. In the short time you two have known each other, it's like you've been joined at the hip, which was especially surprising after the way you talked about her the first day she came."

Carmine cringed. "Yeah. Guess I was being a bit edgy…"

She decided to thumb through Kieran's drawings she'd picked up from the floor. One was a drawing of his Pokémon, Furret and Dipplin, playing together.

There was another one that… looked like it was depicting Ogerpon and its masks? Unfortunately, Kieran had taken a thick black marker and scribbled over a lot of it, which made Carmine frown.

"Well, she's a sweet girl. One of the kindest foreigners we've ever had for a guest. You can tell her that I said that, and that if she ever finds herself in Kitakami again, she's welcome here anytime."

"…Right."

Then Carmine got to the last drawing, and this one really took her aback.

It was a drawing of Juliana. Her arms were out. She had a huge smile on her face. She was all dressed up in her green jinbei, with the Kitakami ponytail and all.

And there were a bunch of hearts surrounding her.

He must have drawn this the night after we all went to the Festival together…

Yukito saw Carmine staring at the drawing, and she walked over to her with a smile on her face.

"I mean it, you know. She's extremely kind. I can see how strongly she cares about you. And I don't think she's the kind of friend who's going to let something as silly as distance or the word 'never' get between you two."

She set down a bowl of her stew for Carmine. "You just have to want that too, dearie. And you two will be alright."

Juliana pondered her grandma's words, and gazed at Kieran's drawing.

Even as just a crude drawing, Juliana's whole vibe emanated from it, and her smile was doing the same things to Carmine that the real one does.

She wanted to take a colored pencil and draw in the brown for her eyes. Her sweet… hazel-brown eyes.

Carmine realized she could feel her heart rising in her chest just from looking at this drawing of Juliana… just the same as whenever they've been together the past few days.

She had a sense that she might finally be understanding what her feelings were toward the Paldean girl.

"Yeah…" she started to smile. "Yeah, I guess we will. Thanks, Grandma."

"Yawn…"

"Pon-pon!"

Juliana barely had time to finish yawning before Ogerpon, excited to see her awake, embraced her in a hug.

"Ha ha! Good morning to you too, Ogerpon!"

She sat up in bed, brushing away her hair from her eyes, as she looked at the clock.

"Wow, it's almost 10 o'clock…" She stretched in bed. "And I feel great. That's probably the best sleep I've had staying in this room!"

"Pon yooo!" said Ogerpon, happy to share in Juliana's joy.

After ten minutes of getting up, brushing her teeth, doing her hair, and putting on her uniform, Juliana stepped out of her room with Ogerpon in tow to greet the rest of her fellow students in the community center atrium.

"Hey Juliana. Good morning," said a familiar boy walking up to her.

"Oh hi, Bruce!" Juliana greeted. "Good morning to you too!"

"How'd you sleep? You look a lot less… dead," he snickered.

"I slept great last night! Thanks for asking. Did you have a good sleep too?"

"Yeah…" His winded tone didn't seem to agree.

"Pon yo pon!"

Bruce's attention was drawn to Ogerpon.

"Oh. Is that… the ogre everyone's been making such a big deal about?" He chuckled lightly. "It's a lot less scary looking than in the legends!"

Ogerpon beamed happily at him.

"Oh…! That's right," he said. "I've got a message from Carmine."

"Really? Oh! Did you two finish your orienteering?"

Bruce grumbled a bit. "Barely… I had to remind her that we still only a took picture at the one. Then she grabbed me by my collar and hustled me around the whole field around town so we could finish the other two."

Juliana laughed. "Sounds like her!"

"Tell me about it. Anyway, she says she's waiting for you at Loyalty Plaza and that you should hurry up and meet her there. Oh, and uh… bring that ogre with you, she said."

Juliana nodded. "Hmm. I wonder what she wants that's so urgent. I guess I'd better grab a quick breakfast and get going. Thanks for telling me!"

"No problem. But… why do you two always use me as your messenger boy, huh!?"

Ogerpon chortled at the sight of his frustrated stomping. Bruce just sighed and walked away.

Carmine was standing at the center of Loyalty Plaza, in front of the ruined remains of the old Loyal Three monument, bobbing her feet up and down repeatedly.

"Come on, where are you…"

Carmine didn't know when the last time was she felt this antsy. Yesterday, between the picnic with Juliana and the excitement of battling Ogerpon, time felt endless.

Now just one morning later, Carmine could feel each grain of sand hitting the bottom of the hourglass on everything she wanted to say and do.

Finally, she heard a familiar cry.

"Pon yo!"

Carmine whipped around.

"Juliana!" she said excitedly. Then she cleared her throat and tried to adopt a cooler attitude. "There you are! You took your time!"

Juliana giggled. "It's great to see you today too, Carmine."

"So, how's our little ogre friend doing?"

"Ogie-pon!"

"She looks very chipper!" Carmine giggled. "And how'd you sleep last night?"

"…Really great, actually."

"Ha-ha, I could tell! You've got way less frown lines on you. And… you look a lot prettier…" Carmine realized she might be staring too much. "Err. Well… not as much as me. But, that's a high bar to clear, right?"

"Carmine…" Juliana gave her a coy look. "Are you flirting with me?"

"WHAT!? No!" Carmine's face flushed like a tomato and she grabbed her hair to try to curtain her face. "If anything, I was complimenting myself, you—you… SHUT UP!"

"Relax, I was kidding!" Juliana laughed. "I just think you look funny when you're caught off guard." And cute.

Carmine groaned. "You know what? I change my mind. Go back to being sleep deprived, you were a lot less annoying."

"But you said I'm cuter when I'm assertive."

"Just… let me talk for a minute, okay?" Carmine asserted herself. But privately, she was thinking to yourself, You are. But that's why you're frustrating me. Stop making it harder for me to think!

She heard Ogerpon giggling softly to herself. Strangely, this helped Carmine to focus.

"Listen. I wanted to tell you… You battled really great yesterday, Juliana. Not just with Ogerpon, but with those Lousy Three as well."

"Awww, thanks, Carmine," Juliana smiled. "You're a really great battler too."

Carmine grinned at her. But she quickly frowned again, and turned to look at the ruined monument.

"I guess… the Mask Retrieval Squad has completed its mission."

Juliana looked at Ogerpon, who was just dancing happily listening to the two of them.

"That's true. We got all the Masks back. We cleared Ogerpon's name. All of us together…"

Juliana thought about yesterday, and as soon as she remembered Kieran, her face went sharp.

"Oh! How's… Kieran's doing?" she asked, worried for the answer.

She could see Carmine's head slump a little, which seemed to confirm her fears.

"Well, he's shut himself in his room ever since he got home yesterday… I haven't even seen him," Carmine answered morosely.

"That's worrying…"

"Yeah…"

Juliana hadn't dwelled a lot on Kieran since everything else that happened, but now that he was on the front of her mind again, she was fighting back feelings of guilt. Despite Carmine's assurances otherwise, she still felt like his current state was somehow her fault.

And she just wanted to atone for that.

"Is there anything I can do?"

It was almost like Carmine could sense these feelings from her though, because she turned around and quickly looked concerned.

"Oh… you don't need to feel guilty or anything, Juliana." Carmine sighed sadly. "If anyone's to blame, it should be me. It all started 'cause I said we should keep the whole Ogerpon thing a secret…"

Juliana shook her head. "Your heart was in the right place. You didn't know what would happen…"

"Yeah but…"

Carmine gasped a little as Juliana tenderly rubbed her hand. "You're… you're a good person, Carmine. Please, don't ever think you're not."

"I… Yeah. I-I know that."

Juliana slowly took her hand away. Honestly, she didn't even think to do that. It was just an impulse in her head, and she was stricken curious about it.

Maybe… Maybe Carmine broke through some of my walls too without me realizing.

She gazed at Carmine, and began to realize just how much she had come to value Carmine as a true friend. It was the same warm feelings she'd been feeling whenever she met up with Nemona. But… slightly different? In a way? An even warmer feeling? She wasn't sure.

"You wouldn't think it, but… Kiki's got a bit of an ego too!" Carmine ruminated, not realizing how much Juliana was staring. "He doesn't take losing very well."

Juliana nodded. "Yeah, I've noticed that much. So, do you really think he'll be okay?"

"Yeah. I think so. If I just let him cool down on his own… Especially once we're back at school, and he's with the friends in his own grade again, I'm sure he'll bounce back to his old self again real fast."

Juliana decided to accept these words and tried to swallow down the rest of her worries about Kieran.

"Pon?"

Ogerpon innocently ran up between the two of them, as if she wanted some attention.

"And how are YOU doing, Ogerpon!" Carmine grinned widely in an instant and knelt down. "Juliana's lucky to have had such an adorable bedmate last night!"

"Pon-pon…" Ogerpon blushed shyly.

"Speaking of which… we still haven't figured out who actually gets to have Ogerpon as their partner." Carmine's face lit up. "I know! Maybe we should let her choose again. Maybe letting her sleep with you last night gave you two more time to bond, and she'll have a better idea which one of us she likes more!"

"I don't know," Juliana disagreed.

She watched Ogerpon as the ogre's starry eyes just seemed to glance all around and her face beamed bright like a toddler's. Ogerpon was all smiles last night, but not as much as she was right now with her two favorite friends.

"It seems to me like she's been the most happy whenever you're around, Carmine."

"You think so? Well… let's see what she thinks. Ogerpon?"

"Pon?"

Ogerpon snapped out of whatever happy daze she was in, and was met with Juliana and Carmine both smiling at her while pointing to themselves.

"Ogerpon-pon!"

She happily ran up to them and grabbed one leg of each, hugging them both from the ground while crying blissfully.

"She's still refusing to be helpful…" Carmine whined.

Then, Ogerpon leapt backwards, adopted a stance, and then she pointed her ivy cudgel forward and towards the ground between them.

"Pon pon!"

"…Now what is she doing?"

"Does she… want the two of us to have a battle now?" Juliana wondered.

"Hey… that's a great idea! Let's have a battle, Juliana!" Carmine eagerly pulled out a Poké Ball. "It'll give us both one last great memory to cherish on this trip, and maybe Ogerpon will side with the winner!"

Juliana seemed unsure. "…I think you're just looking for an excuse to battle."

"Hee-hee! But you're not one to turn down a good battle, are you?"

Juliana chuckled. "Got me there! I was… kinda hoping you and I would have another battle before we left."

"See? Everything works out! Let me know when you're ready!"

Carmine sent out her trusty Mightyena, which felt like a safe bet for Juliana as she opened with her Bug/Fairy catch.

"Bombeee!" Ribombee cried out, showing off its pretty brown scarf.

"Ohhhh! Your Cutiefly evolved! And it's so cute!" Carmine gushed.

"I think luck is on my side today!" Juliana beamed. "Battles always go smoothly for me when I start with a Type advantage!"

"Ha! Thinking types are the surefire way to win is only the words of a novice battler." Especially if you really don't know you've actually got a double advantage there. "I'm about to show you the true merits of raw power!"

"If you say so! To tell you the truth, I just wanted to see my Ribombee's new move. Go, Pollen Puff!"

"Mightyena, use Sucker Punch," Carmine quietly but sharply commanded.

While Ribombee was still readying its attack, Mightyena laid a swift strike of darkness on the flying bug, which didn't do a lot of damage thanks to its typing but still made an impression.

Ribombee sent out its Pollen Puff, and Juliana was excited to notice that it did a surprising amount of damage to the Dark-type Mightyena.

"Hmmph," Carmine commented in response. "You keep learning all these type matchups on the go, and yet you're still pulling through as well as those of us who had to memorize them in books. Show-off."

Carmine went for the mercy kill at that point and had Mightyena use Fire Fang, which knocked Ribombee out. So Juliana's next choice was Mienfoo.

Mightyena went for another Sucker Punch, but luckily Juliana's Mienfoo could now utilize Drain Punch to both knock Mightyena out and restore some of its health.

"Yeesh, you really hit where it hurts, don't you?" said Carmine. "Well, check this out!"

Turns out, Carmine had a new evolution to share as well.

"Leaava!"

Juliana whipped out her Pokédex to scan Swadloon's new form.

"Leavanny? It's so cute!"

"It's cuter AND more deadly now! A bit like me, don't you think?" Carmine teased, flipping her hair.

"Well, I don't know about the deadly part…"

Carmine's fist shook. "Oh yeah? Wanna see something really deadly? Go for String Shot, and follow it up with a Slash attack!"

Leavanny, who was now much more agile than its swaddled pre-evolution, quickly bound Mienfoo in a casing of pure string. This rendered it defenseless when Leavanny executed a mighty Slash, leaving Mienfoo close to fainting.

"We're not down yet! Mienfoo, Fury Swipes!"

Mienfoo struggled to use Fury Swipes, having to use its first few swipes to cut itself free, and was about to use the rest on Leavanny when…

"Leavanny… Fell Stinger."

"Fell Stinger?"

"VANNY!"

Before Mienfoo could attack, Leavanny struck first with its stinger-like feet and jabbed Mienfoo in the abdomen.

Mienfoo went down, and Leavanny felt its speed increase.

"We're too fast for the naked eye, Leavanny and I!"

"Hey, nice rhyme!"

Carmine glowered. "I wasn't trying to rhyme."

Juliana raised an eyebrow as she thought of something. "Anyway, yesterday you were boasting about how your Swadloon is Bug AND Grass right? Both Types weak to Fire?"

"…"

Carmine sucked in her lips.

"Thought so!" she giggled. "Go, Ceruledge!"

"CERUL!"

The next turn went how one would expect. Leavanny tried to use its speed advantage to wrap Ceruledge, but its fiery blades roasted the string bindings with little effort and a single Flame Charge left Leavanny the equivalent of kindling.

Carmine growled. "Time to kick some butt, Morpeko."

Morpeko opened with a Thunder Wave, which capped Ceruledge's quick movements with a bout of paralysis. Ceruledge was still able to get a Bitter Blade on Morpeko to restore its own health, but Morpeko's stomach rumbled and it shifted into Hangry Mode.

Now exuding the powers of darkness, Morpeko rolled up an Aura Wheel that made devastating waves against Ceruledge, enough to knock it out.

"Come on, Floragato! We have to turn this around!"

Carmine had Morpeko rev up another Aura Wheel. But Morpeko had already nourished itself in the interim and reverted to Full Belly Mode, meaning its attack was Electric-type again and did little damage to Floragato.

Floragato took advantage of the situation and laid a nasty Seed Bomb on Morpeko. Morpeko became hangry again and tried to cause an Uproar, but Floragato silenced it with its own Slash attack.

"Copying my moves? I bet you're real popular back home!" Carmine teased. "But I bet you weren't expecting this…"

*POP*

"Howwwwwl!"

"What the…" Juliana pulled out her Pokédex app again.

"NINETALES, the Fox Pokémon. It from VULPIX when exposed to a FIRE STONE."

"Evolves from Vulpix!?" Juliana exclaimed, her eyebrows flaring up. "Then that means…"

"Ninetales! INCINERATE that cat!"

All nine of Ninetales' tails raised up in the air as it breathed a powerful fire attack from its mouth.

"Gato!?"

Floragato was doused in flames, and Juliana winced, covering her eyes. When she opened them…

"Gato…" Floragato was burned to a crisp, swirls in its eyes.

Juliana gulped as she recalled her precious Starter, being down to her last two Pokémon and knowing that Carmine's ace was still waiting in the wings.

But there was still a chance, and Juliana knew enough about battling to realize it would be a mistake to let her confidence drop now.

"Well… time to put out this Fire! My first Kitakami friend… Wooper! Help me out!"

"Woop woop!"

"Wooper, use Water Gun!"

Wooper fired out the most powerful Water Gun it could muster, doing some decent damage to Ninetales.

"Heh. Not bad. You might stand a chance of crushing my sweet fox with that move…" A wicked look twinkled in her eye. "So let's Disable it, why don't we?"

Ninetales' eyes twinkled menacingly at Wooper. Wooper reacted in confusion, but when it tried to go for another Water Gun… nothing came out.

"Woo-woop!?"

"Now, Ninetales… baffle its mind with Extrasensory!"

Ninetales hit Wooper with a strong Psychic attack. Wooper, confused and battered, promptly fell on its legs and fainted.

"I think your Wooper's more of a lover than a fighter, sorry to say."

"Darn…" Juliana muttered. "I've only got one chance left…"

She sent out her last Pokémon, Jangmo-o.

"Awwww. Still not close to evolving that thing yet? Tsk tsk."

"We'll show you! Jangmo-o, with your nice shiny golden head, go for Headbutt!"

Jangmo-o hit Ninetales with a mighty Headbutt, but Ninetales had the defense to take it like a champ. Carmine had it use Extrasensory again, which did much stronger damage to Jangmo-o.

Juliana changed tactics and commanded a strong Dragon Tail. This one hit hard, and Ninetales was down for the count.

"Well now, down to my last one, huh?" said Carmine. "You still put up a real good fight, Juliana. But I think you're about to be in for a real surprise now… Go! My shining star!"

She sent out her last Ball, and Juliana expected to see Poltchageist again. But instead, with a cry that sounded like tea cups clanging, it was Sinistcha, happily dancing around in its large chipped cup, who slid into battle.

Juliana gasped. "Is that what Poltchageist evolves into!?"

"Lucky me, I stopped by Peachy's and she happened to have found the special teacup that evolves my little matcha friend! Now it's Sinistcha! And it—ehh?"

Juliana had run right up to the Matcha Pokémon to inspect it further.

"So cool! It's like a huge giant cup of tea swirling around! So much different from Polteageist! But seriously, why the name flip?"

Sinistcha shook its matcha cup body around, delighted at the attention.

Carmine was about to snap at her for gushing instead of focusing on the battle again, but… she backed off, realizing this is just the kind of person Juliana is.

And besides, she found it… strangely infectious now.

"It is pretty adorable, isn't it?" she admitted. "And it's about to leave both you and your Jangmo-o spinning! Go my lovely little ghost, and use Scald!"

Sinistcha geared itself up, and it splashed Jangmo-o with a douse of hot tea that left the Scaly Pokémon with a painful burn.

But Jangmo-o held on as best it could, and Juliana commanded it to use Dragon Claw. Sinistcha took some damage from it, but once it knew its teacup was still intact, Sinistcha put its game face back on.

"Time to stir things up a bit with our new move!" Carmine declared confidently. "Better be on your guard, or this move will getcha!" She couldn't help but snicker a bit. "Sinistcha! Give this little runt a taste of your awesome Matcha Gotcha!"

Sinistcha spun itself vigorously inside its tea cup, spilling little drops of tea around it but powering itself up. Then…

"SINEEEEEEEEEES!"

Matcha tea sprayed everywhere into the battlefield. Even Juliana got a bit of it onto her clothes.

But it was Jangmo-o who took the brunt of it. It was pelted hard by Sinistcha's strong juices, which went beyond just scalding the poor dragon and even sapped its life energy, the wily Matcha Pokémon absorbing all of that energy back into itself to restore its health.

It was too much.

Burned, fried, and drained…

Jangmo-o fell.

"Great job, Jangmo-o," Juliana said, kneeling down to her tired Scaly Pokémon. "You did the best you could out there."

"I… I won?" Carmine realized in shock. "I won. I WON! I finally won!"

"Congratulations!" Juliana ran up to her and grabbed her hands. "That was such a wonderful battle, Carmine!"

"Uhh, d—thanks? … You, you take losing pretty well."

Juliana just giggled. "Well, of course! I know I'm not going to win every single battle, but as long as I had fun, I always focus on that and work to get stronger for the next one! And I had LOTS of fun with our battle! You're a really amazing Trainer, Carmine!"

"Thanks," Carmine said sincerely. "You weren't too bad yourself, I hate to admit. It's been a while since I… since I really felt like I earned that win."

She was of two minds right now. She was both very thankful and joyous about winning the battle, but she was also feeling a slight tinge of embarrassment that she had been such a sore loser in all of Juliana's previous victories.

"Pon! Pon! PONNNN!"

She heard Ogerpon's excited cries, and was surprised when the little ogre jostled herself in excitement and immediately leapt into Carmine's embrace.

"Awww! Are you happy for me too, Ogerpon?" Carmine gave Ogerpon a little tickle on her leafy chin, which made her giggle quite a bit.

Juliana grinned from ear to ear.

"I hope now you know for sure."

"Huh?" Carmine was confused. "Know what for sure?"

She nodded. "That you really are the right Trainer for Ogerpon."

"I…"

"That's why you wanted this battle, right? To prove yourself to her? I think she knows more than ever now that you're going to be a great partner for her."

Carmine thought about this. She looked at Ogerpon in her arms, who was beaming at her more widely than ever, even after having spent the night with Juliana.

"Well… you're not completely wrong. Part of the reason I wanted to meet up here was… was because I couldn't leave without knowing Ogerpon made the choice that was going to make her the most happy."

This made Juliana come to a realization.

"I think I get it now."

"Hmm?"

"I think I finally understand why Ogerpon went to you. Kieran was… thinking about how much he wanted Ogerpon. And, and I… I just wanted Kieran to be happy. I wasn't thinking about Ogerpon at all in that moment. But you, Carmine. You were the only between all of us who was… being completely selfless, and really thinking about Ogerpon's feelings."

"Pon-yo!"

"Y'know… when I first met you…" Juliana cringed a little. "I didn't know what to think. You were so jumpy, and acted like a snob."

"Hey…" Carmine seethed just a tiny bit.

"And I judged you too much for it. But… then we spent all that time together. And I got to see more sides of you. Your other masks!" she giggled. "Your love for Kieran. And your Pokémon. And I really see it. Despite what I thought before, you're a really good, caring person, Carmine. And Ogerpon sees how big your heart really is."

Carmine… didn't know what to do with a whole spiel like that. Nobody had ever said these kinds of things to her. She let Ogerpon down gently onto the ground. And when she did… Juliana was holding her hand out.

"I'm really, really glad I met you Carmine. I'm so happy we became friends."

Carmine stared, and stared… but finally, she smiled too. And she accepted the handshake. But in her own special Carmine way, using her grip to thrust Juliana forward a bit, startling her and making the two of them— "Po-po-po-po!" –the three of them laugh happily with each other.

Carmine sighed. "You're really something else, you know?"

"Me?"

"Yes, you. Silly. You're so good at seeing things in a… in a whole light that nobody else does. You've made me see things in ways I never thought I could before. No wonder you have such an easy time making friends. I used to think all that was your weakness but…"

She grinned affectionately.

"Now I get it. It really is your strength. You're like a rope that binds people together. You even got me and Kiki to argue with each other less than we probably ever have being stuck on this piece of rock together," she chuckled.

Juliana laughed too, partly out of sentiment and… just being stunned to have all her affectionate gestures being reflected back to her.

"I guess that's why," Carmine said quietly.

Then Juliana's interest was piqued.

"You guess that's why… what?"

Carmine began to grin to herself even bigger. Her cheeks even flushed a bit red. Juliana noticed Carmine seemed to have a hard time getting herself to look at Juliana.

"To be honest… I've really come to see you as a great friend too. So much, that… I actually, uh…"

She was having trouble finding the words all of a sudden. Juliana was genuinely intrigued.

"Sheesh," Carmine scolded herself. "This is really awkward to tell you, but I—"

"Ro-to-to-to-to…"

She was interrupted by the sound of Juliana's Rotom Phone ringing.

"Uhhh…" Juliana reacted.

Her Rotom Phone flew from her pocket and flashed its screen in front of her, showing her the group's chaperone was calling.

"Hey there, Juliana! This is Briar."

Carmine grunted bitterly. "Seriously? Of all the times…"

"Hi, Ms. Briar. What's uhh, what's going on?"

"Well, it seems all the student pairs have completed their orienteering as of this morning. The caretaker and I wanted to have some words with all the students, so… would you mind heading back to the community center?"

Carmine looked a bit frustrated now. Juliana watched as she walked in closer, took a really deep sigh, and then spoke loudly.

"Message received, loud and clear!"

"Ahh, is that Carmine with you?"

"It sure is," Juliana responded, looking at Carmine with concern.

"Wonderful! That's one less phone call I have to make." They heard a light chuckle from Briar. "You kids never cease to amaze me. It seems you become fast friends even by spending the briefest amount of time together."

Carmine hmphed. "If only she knew how much time you and I have really spent together…"

"Well, head on over to the community center! I'll be there with the rest of the students. And please make sure Carmine comes with you, and Kieran as well! Lots going on, and so little time!"

Then Briar signed off.

Juliana gazed at Carmine, whose mood seemed to have completely shifted. She looked rather grumpy now and… upset.

"…She's right though," Carmine mumbled. "It was still pretty brief. We only just became friends, and now we…" She couldn't bear to finish the sentence.

Juliana, seeming to pick up on what Carmine was anxious about, started feeling a little sad herself.

"Hey… just because things are wrapping up, doesn't mean we're out of time. We've still got a few minutes if you want to tell me what it is you were about to tell me."

Carmine looked at her. Like, really looked at her. Like she was scanning her face. Her pleasant smile. Her cheery motions. And her pretty—no, beautiful brown eyes that looked hazel in the right kind of light. Like she was trying to capture them as memories for her to keep.

This also gave Juliana a chance to notice how bright Carmine's yellow eyes were. Yellow might seem like a sharp color for some, and whenever Carmine gets eccentric, they can appear quite striking. But now, in this tender moment, Juliana looked at them and just felt… warmness.

An ever encapsulating warmness. Like a sun that you don't want to stop staring at. Together with her long, almost spiky eyelashes… And her silky long, black hair, wrapped up in that yellow headband, all gazing downward at the short-heighted Juliana… she was really taking in now just how, cool Carmine was.

Like she was the dictionary definition of the word.

She had a mole below her left eye that Juliana had never noticed before.

It's cute…

The trance was lost when Carmine started looking sad again and shook her head.

"No. No, it'd be better if I head off. I got to pop back home really quick to see if Kiki's lightened up enough that he'll show up. I'll just—meet you there, okay? Go see what the nosy old guy wants."

She started brushing past Juliana to walk out of the plaza.

"Okay! But… we'll have plenty of time to talk afterwards, right?" Juliana asked.

Carmine stopped, and turned her head just enough that Juliana could peek at her yellow eyes again.

"…Thanks, Juliana," she said quietly. "For everything. I'm glad you were my friend too."

Then she headed off, running a little faster now.

Juliana and Ogerpon both stood there, watching her leave, looking a little sad.

"Well… that was really weird." She gazed to the ground in thought. "What do you… suppose she was about to tell me?"

"Pon?"

"Truth be told, I didn't think you'd wrap up the tour this quickly. You're quite the prodigies!"

Juliana heard Nao the caretaker talking as she made her way to the center of Mossui Town, with Ogerpon strolling happily in tow.

There, Briar, Carmine, and Nao were all standing in front of the community center, along with all of her Uva classmates.

She calmly walked in and stood next to Butch, who picked up a scent from her and sniffed around her.

"Why do your clothes smell like tea?"

"Ahh, there you are Juliana!" said Briar. "Everybody's here—well, most of us are here, anyway."

Carmine looked sadly off to the side. Juliana instantly noticed to her disappointment that Kieran wasn't there.

"Well… as you were saying, caretaker!"

"Mmm, yes! Anyway, on that note, I've got a little gift for each of you."

He went and personally handed each of the four students a Kitakami Mochi Set.

"Pon-pon?" Ogerpon cried curiously, seeing what Juliana got.

"Hmmm, why not? You can have some too, dear ogre. Consider it our penance."

Ogerpon took the Mochi set happily.

"Everyone say thank you Mr. Caretaker!" said Briar.

"Thank you, Mr. Caretaker!" said Juliana and the rest of the students.

"Now then… I believe you had some words to say, Ms. Briar."

"Oh yes. Right…"

Briar began to fidget a bit, looking a little hesitant. Juliana noticed Carmine looking at Briar with a sad face. Then she caught Juliana's eyeline… and her face retreated with a blush.

"I just want to say… I hope this trip to Kitakami has been a lot of fun for all of you. If it were up to me, we'd continue on this fun adventure as long as everyone pleases. But of course, we must all return to our natural pastures eventually. And as it so happens…"

She briefly glanced at Carmine's upset face.

"I'm sorry for suddenly springing this on you, but Carmine, Kieran, and I will need to return to Blueberry Academy a little earlier than expected."

Juliana's smile dropped.

"…What?" she cried out louder than she meant to, earning a couple of looks.

Carmine glanced at her, and mouthed a quiet "Sorry."

"But why?"

"Again, truly sorry… but there have been some concerning developments revolving around the Great Crater."

"Of Paldea…?" said a student, scratching his head.

"Yes, indeed. I'm afraid we really must be heading back."

The students began murmuring amongst each other. Juliana heard a girl whispering, "Isn't their academy in Unova? Why does a crater in our region affect anything?"

"So who's going to chaperone us for the rest of the trip?" asked Butch.

"Well, about that…" Briar looked to her right and noticed something. "Oh! Perfect timing! Here comes Mr. Jacq now!"

"Hello, hello, everyone!"

All of the students greeted Jacq as he walked into town from the direction of Reveler's Road.

"Sorry for making it late," he apologized. "I got really caught up in taking notes on this adorable pair of Swinub who came up to me while I was packing the table!"

"Yes, well…" Briar maintained her composure in light of her colleague's… looser demeanor. "I was just explaining to the kids here about us having to go back to Blueberry early. So they're wondering about the rest of the trip. I believe you can explain that to them."

"Oh-ho! Yes! Of course! Leaving the hard part to me, huh?" he muttered quietly. "Well… umm. Yeah, so like Briar said, the Blueberry students are going home early. She asked me to accompany you all. And uhh, after talking it over with both Ms. Briar and your awesome caretaker here, we've made the decision that the rest of us will be calling it a trip and heading back to Uva Academy as well."

All of the students gasped and clamored in shock.

Juliana was even more struck. She hadn't expected to be saying goodbye to Carmine and the land of Kitakami today.

Does this mean I won't even get a chance to say goodbye to Kieran…?

"But what about the rest of the Festival!?" asked the shortest male student.

"Mmm. I'm happy to answer that question," said Nao. "The thing about that is… in discussing with the rest of the town elders, we've also made the decision to postpone the Festival of Masks for the time being."

The students all erupted in various reactions of surprise and concern.

"We decided it was best, once we learned the truth about the Loyal Three. And of course, of dear Ogerpon." He gestured towards Ogerpon, who blushed. "It wouldn't feel right to continue a festival that's still themed around such falsehoods. Great for tourism perhaps, but we wouldn't feel right at home with it. So we're going to retool things with the Festival of Masks, and hopefully hold it again properly later in the year."

"I'll try to communicate this with all the proper channels as best I can so you all have a chance to come back and experience the Festival when it's on," said Jacq. Geet is sure going to have a hard time with all this…

A hand raised.

"Yes? Umm… Emi, wasn't it?"

"Does that mean the Ogre Oustin' game is going away?"

Nao chuckled. "Oh, not at all. It's a very fun diversion and… a very lucrative attraction as well, so it's not going anywhere. We will… probably just have to think of a better name for it is all."

"But with no more Festival going on, and all of you having completed your Orienteering missions, I figured it made the most sense that we end the trip now and all of you can continue your studies at Uva," Jacq explained.

The students all spoke with each other, generally being more accepting now about this outcome.

Juliana hadn't been able to wipe the look of immense distress from her face though. It troubled her to be receiving this news all at once, and she kept looking at Carmine, who was just gazing down to the ground now.

Briar cleared her throat. "Now then… Carmine, I believe you had something to say?"

Carmine felt a bit awkward. "Huh? Geez, way to put me on the spot. Umm…"

All of the students quieted down to listen to her, especially Juliana. Carmine stepped forward to address them all.

"Unfortunately my brother's not feeling well, so it's just me here to speak..."

Juliana looked yearningly off towards the road that led to their house, as if she was expecting—hoping—that Kieran was going to come out, all smiles, to join his sister in saying goodbye. But alas.

"Anyway, as you all know, this village is where I was born. Kiki—that is, Kieran and I—grew up here for much of our lives. It's a very special, sacred place to us. And I'll be honest—I didn't want any outsiders coming here at all!" she said with a snarl.

"Yikes…" one student recoiled. Juliana couldn't help but chuckle lightly, and Carmine smiled a bit more when she heard that.

"It felt like our home was being turned into a tourist trap for a buncha ignorant strangers..."

At this point, she put a hand to her heart.

"But then we spent some time together, and none of you were the way I imagined you'd be at all..."

She was now looking directly at Juliana.

"You were all really nice once I actually talked to you! You were so friendly, and eager, and excited about Pokémon battles, and well… you got me to see my homeland with fresh eyes for the first time in my life. And thanks to your help, you, you really changed our village for the better. I guess in the end… I shouldn't have been so quick to judge people I didn't know anything about either."

Juliana felt a little touched, and also a bit embarrassed.

"Wow," Bruce whispered to her. "I had no idea our orienteering together made so much of an impact on her."

Juliana stifled a loud chuckle. Briar looked at her scoldingly, but it actually made Carmine giggle a bit too.

"So I guess what I'm trying to say is... I had a lot of fun! Thank you all so much for visiting our village!"

She stepped forward some more. And then, to Juliana's surprise, Carmine walked right up to her and tenderly grabbed her hands.

"Especially you, Juliana… I'm really glad I got to meet you."

Carmine's voice started choking up; she was trying to fight back the tears she could feel coming. Juliana could feel her own face tingling up with sadness.

"And… I'm so glad we became friends, and helped Ogerpon together."

Juliana's lip trembled. "I'm really glad too, Carmine. I wouldn't trade these memories for anything."

"Yeah…" She sniffled loudly. "A-and I mean, it's not like this is good-bye forever... right?"

A tear fell down her cheek. This was enough to shatter Juliana's walls to pieces… and her eyes started welling up too.

"Y-yeah! Of course! We'll totally meet each other again someday!"

"You know, Blueberry Academy has tons of strong Trainers! You'd fit right in!" Carmine cry-laughed. "So—so you'd better come and visit us someday! You won't regret it!"

"Hey…"

"Huh?"

The next thing Carmine knew, Juliana inched up to her height and wrapped her arms around her in a soft, warm hug.

Carmine reciprocated it with a sad smile.

They wanted to just stay in that moment forever, unmoving. Not letting go.

But eventually… Carmine did. She removed herself from Juliana's embrace, then she took her hands away.

"Friends until the end, Carmine," Juliana smiled through her tears, holding out her pinky. "Promise?"

"Yeah… yeah. P-promise."

"And… pass that on to Kieran too, please. Same promise."

"I will." Sniff. "I will."

Carmine stepped back and wiped her tears away.

"Well…" she loudly addressed everyone, as if just remembering there were other people there again. "I almost forgot—I still need to get packed and everything!"

Carmine gathered all her composure, and started walking away from Juliana and the group.

She turned around after a few steps… and waved the same way she did when she first ambushed Juliana in Mossui Town.

"This is NOT good-bye, okay?" she said with a bright smile on her face now. "We're definitely gonna see each other again!"

She started running back home for real now.

Although her back was turned, Juliana smiled and waved back to her.

"Pon…"

Juliana had nearly forgotten Ogerpon was there.

Ogerpon looked in the direction Carmine ran, and then she gazed at Juliana with a frantic expression. Juliana wasn't sure why… but she quickly realized Ogerpon must be unsure now of who she should go with.

So she knelt down.

"Hey, Ogerpon."

"Pon!" Ogerpon grinned at her.

Juliana smiled warmly.

"I want to thank you. You've been watching over me since I first arrived here, haven't you? You were someone who needed a friend and… you saw me alone in this strange land and you decided I should be your friend. I'm really, really grateful for that."

Ogerpon blushed and smiled bashfully. "Pon…"

"I'm heading back to my own homeland now. It's called Paldea. It's got a bunch of adventures waiting for me, and friends who really care about me. They're the ones who are going to look after me, follow me around, and keep me smiling. So I won't be lonely at all."

She stared thoughtfully in the direction towards Carmine's house.

"But Carmine… I don't know. I have a funny feeling that she's going to really need someone like that right now. So… I'd like you to be that friend for her, Ogerpon. I'd feel a lot better too, knowing that you're looking out for her, and making her happy every day."

Ogerpon looked in that direction again. Then, after a few moments of contemplation, she gave an affirmative cry and reached her arms out for a farewell hug, which Juliana gladly gave.

"Goodbye Ogerpon." She was holding back tears again. "Until we meet each other again!"

Ogerpon beamed, excitedly said "Pon!" one final time, and then happily ran off to meet up with Carmine.

Juliana wiped a tear from her face as she watched Ogerpon leave.

Briar leaned in close to Jacq. "I umm… I really didn't mean for this to all be so dramatic."

Jacq just chuckled. "Yeah, but you know how kids are. They must've all made quite the bond with each other."

He observed Juliana with a proud smile, as she stared off into the road for a few more seconds before sighing and turning around.

"So you were able to Brick Break through that barrier after all, huh?" he said quietly. "That's my student."

After saving goodbye to her grandparents, Carmine boarded the small six-seater bus Briar had called for them with her school backpack and a suitcase filled with her belongings.

Luckily, Kieran finally agreed to come out of his room with everything packed up and hopped in too. All with very little drama. In fact… he said very little at all.

And even on the bus ride, he stayed silent. The two of them sat in the middle row with Briar and the driver up front.

Carmine looked at the blank expression on her brother's face, and worry took over her again.

"Umm, it'll be really exciting heading back to school, right Kiki?" she said gently. "I bet you're going to have some really fun stories to share with all your classmates."

Kieran slowly turned his head towards her. He cast a look at her. It wasn't quite a glare, but it wasn't a happy expression either.

He sighed quietly, and then turned his attention to the window.

At least he doesn't seem mad anymore…

Carmine decided to take what she could get from Kiki.

"Pon yo?"

Then she heard Ogerpon behind her. Kieran briefly looked behind there as well, but only briefly.

Ogerpon had taken the long seat at the back of the bus so she could look out the back window. And Carmine looked, and she saw that Ogerpon was watching Oni Mountain, the place that she had been calling home for apparently hundreds of years, slowly becoming less and less visible over the horizon.

"Hey…" She leaned over and reached her hand out to Ogerpon, who gave her cloaked arm. "Don't worry. Kitakami is our home too. We'll definitely be back again lots of times."

"Ponyo…" Ogerpon gave a cry that sounded a tad unsure but trusting in Carmine's words. At least, that's how she interpreted it. She couldn't really pick up on Ogerpon's emotions as well as Juliana seemed to, but she had plenty of time to learn.

"You love battling a lot, right?"

Ogerpon answered eagerly.

"Hmm-hmm! Well, you're going to love life at Blueberry. It's practically nothing but battles! And you're going to meet all my friends, ohh they're all going to love you, I just know it!"

"Pon?"

"And you and I will hang out together, training all the time! And talking girl stuff every night! It's going to be a blast!"

"Pon-pon!" Ogerpon sounded very eager about all this.

"…"

Carmine decided to ignore the look Kieran gave them both.

She looked out her own window… and saw a plane flying overhead. She couldn't be sure it was Juliana's obviously, but it still made her grin a little.

"And you and I are both going to see our mutual friend again someday. … I really hope so anyway."

Then, a wide look suddenly crossed her face.

"…CRAP! I… I never even got her number," she said sorrowfully.

Juliana made herself cozy in her seat. She had gotten a window seat on the plane heading back to Paldea, next to a student named Emi that she hadn't talked to much. But the two struck up a brief conversation about their experiences in Kitakami and what classes they take. They didn't share any classes in common, or much of any hobbies.

Juliana found herself thinking about Carmine. She imagined the kinds of things Carmine would talk about if they were sitting next to each other. Imagined the sorts of things she might have to say about her classes, and what friends she's got.

She wasn't expecting to start missing Carmine so soon but… Juliana was already beginning to experience an emptiness in her chest.

I really do wish she was here next to me right now… Who knows how long it'll take for us to see each other again. Our academies might not even share the same breaks. Maybe it won't happen until we're both out of school… Long enough that our walls might be back up again…

And Kieran… I really hope he's doing okay.

Juliana was distracted by her thoughts when she saw Mienfoo, the Pokémon she'd chosen to be plane buddy, curiously gazing out the window.

She looked and saw that Kitakami was slowly being eaten up by the clouds as they ascended over the land.

She rubbed Mienfoo's back. "It's a weird feeling leaving the place you call home, huh?"

"Foo…"

"Well, you're going to love Paldea a lot, I can promise you that."

"Mien?"

She smiled. "It's got a lot of great natural areas to run around in, and Trainers everywhere just itching for a battle. You and I are going to have a ton of great matches, especially against all the Gym Leaders I still have to fight!"

"Mien! Mienfoo!" the Martial Arts Pokémon cried excitedly. Juliana patted it on the back some more as she giggled.

She decided to put the Snorlax-themed sleep mask they provided over her eyes, and see if she could catch some Z's before they landed back home again.

As she began to drift off, she thought about Paldea. Her home.

All of the places she's been to so far, and those she has yet to venture to. The Pokémon she's encountered. The people she's met.

Her friends, and their smiling faces…

Juliana thought about how much she had missed all of them while she was away, and imagined how they would all react when they see her again.

She could hardly wait.

NEXT TIME... A NEW BEGINNING!

Chapter Text

"You have my gratitude for taking care of the Navi Squad's base. We're really making headway on Operation Starfall now. No doubt the two remaining bases are scrambling to make ready for their last stand as we speak."

"Well, they'll be no match for my team and I!" Juliana declared confidently.

Juliana was walking through a very familiar locale now: the sandy plains of Asado Desert, a long-stretching ocean of sand in the Western Province of the Paldea region.

She was back to wearing her standard Uva Academy-issued summer uniform, but with one extra touch of Kitakami: She had decided to keep the ponytail Carmine's grandmother had styled for her, complete with sporty bangs and crescent-shaped tails on the side of her face.

Walking through the vicious sandstorms of Asado, Juliana was already noticing a keen benefit to keeping her hair tied shorter: her braid was no longer constantly whacking her in the face every few seconds like the last time she ventured through this desert for her impromptu Gym Challenge.

Her only company through this harsh landscape was her Kitakami-caught Jangmo-o… or rather her Hakamo-o, who had finally evolved inside Tagtree Thicket during her battle with Atticus, and the Rotom Phone flying in front of her face, which was transmitting the voice of the mysterious Cassiopeia.

"I'm also relieved to know you're still committed to our mission, even after spending time away from Paldea. No doubt, your experiences in Kitakami have also helped you grow much stronger, increasing our chances of abdicating all the bosses!"

"Huh?" Juliana stopped to look up at the Phone. "How'd you know about my trip to Kitakami?"

She heard a noise on the other end that sounded a bit like a mischievous chuckle.

"I'm in Uva Academy's network, Juliana. I know practically everything going on in this school. I know about the lottery system they used to select students for the school trip, and all the student ID's that were drawn." Cassiopeia than said more quietly, "I might have even figured out how to game the lottery's algorithm so that I could choose who goes on the trip manually…"

"What was that?"

"Oh, nothing. I was just musing to myself. Keep up the good work! I'll contact you again when you're close to the next base. Oh and one more thing…"

"Hmm?"

A picture of Asado Desert's map flashed on Juliana's phone, with a specific spot marked.

"I've hacked into students' private chats who have been through this desert, and they all seemed to spot a giant Pokémon resembling a Donphan inside this tall circle of stones. If you're going after that Titan, that's probably where you should head next."

Juliana was astonished. "How did you even guess that's what I'm doing?"

"You think I don't know about all your other quests?" Cassiopeia said in a coy-sounding voice. "There's few other reasons I could imagine you'd willingly put yourself through the sandstorm-ridden desert again when you've already acquired your Water Badge."

Juliana was amazed by Cassiopeia's apparent skills for intuition for a second. But then she began to look bothered.

"It feels like you know everything about me, but I know nothing about you…" she mumbled.

"Hako?" her Hakamo-o uttered in concern.

"…I'm sorry?" came Cassiopeia's voice.

"Oh!" Juliana's eyebrows flared. "I'm sorry, I… didn't mean for you to hear that. I just… I just have a big problem with secrets, that all." Especially now after everything that happened with Kieran…

There was a sizable pause from the other end of the phone.

"…I'm sorry for being so secretive," Cassiopeia said in a soft voice. "Please understand, it's just… necessary for the mission that I protect my identity. But when the time is right, everything will become clear. On that, I can promise you."

Juliana calmly nodded. "I understand."

"Good. … Take care of yourself, okay?"

Then they hung up. Juliana was a bit surprised. That last sendoff was probably the most personal thing the otherwise stoic Cassiopeia had said. She could tell there must be some sense of guilt on the other end.

But not just in keeping their identity secret. It was clear that this Cassiopeia was burying… even deeper regrets. Juliana had already surmised this person was more connected to Team Star and its bosses than they were letting on.

Even though she didn't know this person's true self, Juliana still hoped that completing this Operation Starfall would be the satisfaction they need, and help them to heal from whatever was troubling them.

Juliana gave her Hakamo-o a gently pat and decided to continue onward, focusing on her other mission for now. But for a brief moment, she thought of Kieran again. By now, he and… and Carmine were certainly back at Blueberry Academy readjusting to school life.

I wonder what they're doing right now…

Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock.

The minute hand and the second hand both moved in a perfect rhythm. With each tick, they moved inch by inch around the circle of numbers. Always in sync. Never a beat off. Completely synchronized and on track.

As all things in this world ideally would be. At least, that's how this girl seemed to think.

Standing stiffly and dressed in a Blueberry uniform with large silver boots, a pair of gray half-moon glasses, and her hair done in unique braids that made it look like she had large metal bolts sticking out of her head, she remained fixated on her silver beaded pocket watch. She never took her eyes off it. At least not until…

"Amarrryyyyyys~!" a voice rang out across the club room.

Amarys looked up and, although she didn't crack a smile, her face still seemed to light up in joy when she saw who had just shouted her name.

"Greetings, Carmine! It's refreshing to finally talk with you face-to-face again. You look as well rested as I had hoped you would be after your excursion."

Carmine walked up to her friend with a soft, happy smile on her face.

"Ha-ha! I knew you would be the first to notice."

Amarys noted a small, unfamiliar Pokémon that was trotting alongside her friend.

"How peculiar," she noted, gazing at Ogerpon with a curious face. "That's not a Pokémon that's in any of our study books. An obscure specimen from your homeland of Kitakami?"

"Pon-pon!" Ogerpon said happily, waving to the new face.

"You could say that. Her name's Ogerpon. She's a living legend! Do you remember when I used to tell you about our town's old stories? The ogre of Kitakami?"

"Oh! Is this that ogre in person? How interesting. It looks… significantly less terrifying and nefarious than you originally described it."

"Pon?" Ogerpon turned to Carmine, who winced.

"Blunt as ever, aren't you? Glad to know you haven't changed, Amarys…"

The two classmates grabbed a seat at the table in the middle of the League Club Room to chat. Amarys unpacked her lunch: sweet potato noodles with a plate of freeze-dried strawberries, all of which she had delicately prepared the night before, and a pear smoothie.

Carmine, having missed the fatty delights of her Academy's cafeteria food, went all out with the Academy Pizza, a plate of Academy Fries, and an Academy Shake to go with it. She happily shared her food with Ogerpon, who was enamored with all these delicious new tastes.

"So how was seeing your native land again, Carmine? I remember… on the first night you arrived, you wrote me a letter about being forced to cavort with, the 'outsiders' as you so referred to them as. Were you successful in your mission to force them away from damaging Kitakami's natural beauty?"

Carmine had to chuckle a little bit at this reminder of her facetious behavior at the beginning of the trip.

"Ohh, those kids from Paldea ended up being nothing like how I'd feared. They were all reallu nice actually and… really respected our land a lot. Not the kind of grabby, boorish tourists I thought they were going to be. In fact…"

She took a sip from her fruity ice cream shake and smiled fondly.

"I actually met this girl… Super, super nice girl. Named Juliana. She's actually part of the reason I became friends with Ogerpon here. We did a lot of adventuring together to meet the ogre and help fix all the injustices that had been done to her."

"Pon-yo! Pon-yo!" Ogerpon beamed in agreement.

"And… and you know, I already kind of miss her."

Carmine started thumbing one of her fries, having made herself feel a little sad.

"She made that great of an impact of you?"

"Indeed. I mean… yeah." Carmine rolled her eyes that Amarys's matter-in-fact way of speaking had temporarily infected her. "I just don't know that I've ever met someone like her before. She was so kind and… and really cute."

"Do I hear somebody talking about cuteness without me?" a voice shouted.

A tall girl marched up to the pair with a bright smile on her face. She was also wearing a light Blueberry uniform, but complimented it with a long pink cardigan that sported sleeve cuffs like little fairy wings. She wore her hair long and straight, with clipped ends and bangs, and a pair of fancy earrings from a popular Driftveil City jewelry brand.

"Lacey!"

Carmine got up from her seat to embrace her friend Lacey in a hug.

"It's so good to see you!"

"Hee-hee! Mutual feelings all around, Carmie! Blueberry's a lot more boring without your coolness livening up the room, I'll tell you what! Nobody around this school can match my energy as well as you do, and they don't have your amazing sense of humor either!"

"Nor does anyone in our circle share the same appeal for unadulterated movie nights," Amarys added. "I've kept up a queue of movies I was interested in watching next time you're free."

"Like I had any doubt I was the tentpole holding our friend group up?" Carmine teased. "I guess the burden falls to me once again to keep my gals entertained so they don't dry up into husks."

"Very funny." Lacey rolled her eyes.

"…I'm struggling to see the humor in such a morbid image," Amarys remarked.

"So how was your trip?"

"Oh, it was great! Just the refreshing experience I needed!" Carmine chuckled. "I was uhh, already in the middle of telling Amarys about the ogre, and the girl I met there."

"Ooooh, you met a cute girl, did you?" Lacey teased. "Was she even cuter than me?"

"Come on, you know that's impossible!"

"I don't know… if you're gushing about her that hard, I think our little Carmine just might have a crush!"

Carmine shied her face away and blushed. "Shut up! I do not!"

"Woah! I've never seen your face turn that red before!" Lacey dug in even further. "Oh my stars, you are in love, Carmine!"

"Agggh!" Carmine tugged on her hair. "I said shut up already!"

"Pon-pon-pon!" Ogerpon giggled.

Lacey gasped. "Oh my gosh! Is this the Pokémon you were telling me about on the phone!? Ogerpon or something like that?"

"Good memory!" Carmine complimented. "This is Ogerpon in the flesh! My brand new spunky warrior girl from Kitakami!"

Lacey squeed out loud and grabbed Ogerpon up in her arms, startling the ogre quite a bit.

"Hey, be gentle with her!" Carmine cautioned.

"I'm so sorry! But you're so stinkin' cute I could just eat you up!" Lacey cooed, nuzzling Ogerpon's face in hers. "You're like an adorable green cinnamon roll!"

Ogerpon was thrilled by all these compliments and laughed heartily, showing its fangs.

"Ohhh, and your cute little fangs too! Little vampire girlie! Are you sure there's only one of these in Kitakami, Carmine? Because I'm already jealous and want her for myself!"

Carmine giggled. "I knew out of everyone, you two would get along the quickest! But I'm afraid she's one-of-a-kind!"

"Amarys!" Lacey gave a faux-angry look at Amarys. "How can you just sit there so calmly and not gush about how super-duper cute this thing is!?"

"I acknowledged Ogerpon's extensive adorability factor. I even showered it with flattering compliments."

Carmine shielded her mouth and muttered, "She said, and I quote, 'It has a uniquely captivating and delightful appeal to it'."

"Oooh, three big words from Amarys? You must be really enamored with Ogerpon!" Lacey teased their stoic friend.

"Quite. Yes."

"Ogerpon's so tough and adorable that I've been thinking she should be the mascot of the BB League!" Carmine joked. "Then everyone would want to join in just to get a chance to battle her! Know who I can talk to about that?"

Lacey laughed, still cradling Ogerpon in her arms. "Well, you'd certainly have my vote set in stone! Especially if she's as amazing in battle as you say! I'd love to see her in action someday. But right now, I'm just glad you all made it back safe and sound!" said Lacey.

Ogerpon's eyes were closed in blissful lulling as Lacey continued to rock her.

"Have you and Kieran settled in your new dorm room yet? I'd love to catch up with him! It's been so long since the last time we talked!"

Carmine's smile vanished at the mention of Kieran, and she slowly tipped her head downward in gloom.

Lacey noticed and looked concerned.

"Oh… I'm sorry, Carmine. Did I say something wrong?"

Carmine didn't answer. Amarys cleared her throat.

"Carmine has indicated that she and Kieran are no longer sharing a room together."

"What…?" Lacey gasped.

"He put in a request for a room to himself without even telling me," Carmine said glumly, her arm slumped on the table. "Apparently, it was one of the first things he did when we got back."

"Aww. I'm sorry to hear that, Carmine." Lacey tried to find a way to bring positivity back into the conversation. "Well… at least your brother's growing up fast. That's got to feel good, right? That he's finally being more independent?"

"Yeah… I suppose so." Carmine tried to smile but couldn't quite bring herself to. She took another long sip from her ice cream shake… which had melted and tasted rather frothy now.

"So that means you've got the whole room to yourself now. Are you… going to be okay with that?"

"Of course I can handle having my own dorm!" Carmine snapped slamming her shake and spilling little drops on the table. "I'm a big girl! I know how to take care of myself!" She was seething with her fists again.

"Hee-hee! I sure missed that look from you!" Lacey delighted.

Juliana passed a large mesa and found several large jagged stones pointing up from the ground. She got closer and looked around, and there were more of them all lined up in what looked like a circle.

And she could faintly hear the sound of something huge rolling around in the distance.

"Well.. this looks like the place. …Where's Arven?"

She gulped. The prospect of facing gigantic Titan Pokémon with supposed potential for destruction hadn't gotten any less nerve-wracking even though she and Arven successfully felled two of them so far.

In fact, the time difference between the last Titan, with her Kitakami trip falling afterward, seemed to increase Juliana's anxiety now. In some ways, she felt like she was back to square one again, being so frightened to have stumbled upon that giant Klawf on the cliffside.

As she nervously began to approach, her Rotom Phone rang.

"Arven?" she hoped.

"Hello, Juliana. This is Turo."

"Oh. Hi, Professor!" she waved to her screen.

"I'm glad to see you are unharmed. My sensors—my computer's sensors, for a while had seemed to not be able to detect you or Miraidon as being anywhere in Paldea."

Straight to the point as usual, this guy.

"Oh. I guess I never did tell you about my trip…" Is he okay with me bringing Miraidon to another land? I didn't even think about that. "You see, I was selected to go t—"

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but I don't have much time and it's important I alert you to the Pokémon you're drawing close to," Turo's voice cut in. "Iron Treads is a Pokémon that came from the Great Crater of Paldea."

"Iron Treads?" Juliana asked.

"My own naming convention. It's a Pokémon that dwells within the Crater and cannot be allowed to roam outside of it. I ask that you do whatever is needed to subdue it for me—with all due caution, of course."

"Uhh, okay, sure," she responded. "How did a Pokémon fro—"

But Turo abruptly hung up.

"Tch. I think I'm starting to get why Arven is the way he is if this is who he's got for a dad."

She paused at her own remark. Heh. Carmine would appreciate that joke…

"Juliana!" she heard a familiar voice call.

"Arven!" Juliana greeted in delight. "How are ya doing?"

Arven ran up to her. As always, he was dressed in his academy uniform with a yellow vest, lugging around a backpack so filled up that stuff was threatening to spill out of its pockets, and a mophead of pepper-gray hair, which Arven once told her used to earn him the nickname "Pepper" from Nemona.

"How am I doing?" he repeated once they were face-to-face. "Well, I'm doing fine as ever, of course! I should be asking how you are, little buddy! Did it really take you over a week to figure out where our next Titan was?"

Juliana stared blankly at him.

"Uhh… Arven? Did you… forget that I told you I was going on a school field trip and would be a while?"

"Huh? Well, no! N-no, of course I didn't forget that! My memory's sharp as a Vespiquen's stinger!" Arven proclaimed, pointing as his noggin. "So, uh… where'd you go again?"

"Kitakami," she giggled.

"Oh! Yeah! Right! Kitakami! Now I remember!" Arven crossed his arms. "That's… that's over in the Northern Province right? Near Glaseado Mountain or something like that?"

Juliana shook her head in resignation. "…You know what? Sure."

"Heh-heh, sorry. Like I told you before, I'm all about picnics and the outdoor life. Geography isn't my strong subject."

Juliana raised an eyebrow. "…Didn't Nemona say something about you haven't been showing up for your classes? That's probably why."

"Ouch! Look who's got barbs now!" Arven reacted. "That Katti-whatever place turned you super sassy!"

Juliana once again took pause. Yeah… Yeah, I guess it did…

"Keep sticking with me from now on, and you'll learn how to hone that tenacity!" Arven boasted, pointing at himself. "Now let's go! The ground's shaking a lot around here, you must've found the Quaking Earth Titan before I did!"

"Yup! It's just inside that circle of rocks!"

"Great, let's go!"

Arven hoisted up his backpack. Juliana noticed him doing that and realized that's probably where she had been getting that habit from. She playfully hoisted her bag too and started walking with him.

"I can't wait for you to see some of the new Pokémon I caught in Kitakami," she conversed with Arven. "They're probably even going to pack a punch against these Titans!"

"I'll be very glad for that! I feel like I already depend on you a lot for taking those things down. By the way…" His face grew curious. "I heard you talking on the phone with somebody. Who was that?"

Juliana's face drew up in panic.

"Oh! Uhh… umm... It was…"

Juliana thought frantically about whether she should tell Arven that she had been in communication with his absentee father. She had gathered by now that Turo was a very thorny subject for Arven, and she worried that he would lose trust in her or get angry if he knew.

Carmine's words echoed in her head.

"Sometimes… there are moments when you have to do something you know will hurt someone. It isn't nice but… it's for their own good."

"…Nobody important," she finally said. "Just… a friend."

"Oh, okay," Arven accepted. He quietly muttered, "It's just that, for a second I, I thought I heard… never mind. It doesn't matter."

He walked briskly onward. Juliana felt a bit guilty, but she tried to just keep in mind that she might feel even guiltier if she made Arven upset.

"Look at her go! She moves fast for such a little bean!"

Lacey gushed as she, Carmine, and Amarys stood against the wall and watched Ogerpon treading fire on one of the League Club's treadmills. The screen of the treadmill showed a running simulation, and Amarys had programmed in a mountain trail simulation that delighted Ogerpon for appearing so similar to Oni Mountain.

"Pon…! Pon…! Pon…! Pon…!" she huffed.

Ogerpon was laser-focused on her exercise. The screen was tracking the determined Pokémon's numbers, and showed that she was quickly shattering records for km/h, calories burned, consistent pacing, heart activity, all the works.

"It's astonishing to see a Pokémon with that level of focus and commitment," said Amarys.

Carmine giggled. "I was worried about whether she'd be able to do all the same athletic stuff I've seen her do up on the mountain, but I guess I never considered she'd be so drawn to the treadmills here!"

"We'll make a warrior out of her yet," Lacey smiled. "Oh! By the way, you missed Jax's graduation. She finally earned the last credits she needed while you were gone."

"Oh, I know." Carmine sipped her energy drink. "I wrote her a letter while I was at home, and she wrote me back with a thanks. I'm gonna miss her, but frankly I'm not going to miss that nasty cat of hers and the Mean Look it kept giving me."

"Her Liepard never liked you at all, that's right!" Lacey laughed in remembrance. "Hmmm, Jax did say that her Liepard was kidnapped by Team Plasma once. Maybe after all that, it just doesn't trust anyone it thinks is too mischievous like you!"

"Well, the feeling there was definitely mutual," Carmine pouted. "What's Jax up to now, anyway? Was she still hoping to apprentice with Grimsley?"

Lacey shook her head, as she munched on a box of her candy.

"No, she's studying to become a Pokémon Ranger now apparently!"

"Like the forest rangers, or those ones who use their little spinny sticks to control Pokémon?" asked Carmine.

"The latter one," Amarys answered.

"Oh. … Weird, but okay."

Lacey shrugged. "I guess with her brother's recent promotion into the International Police, she's all fired up and wants to find a way to help people too."

Amarys, perplexed, put down her stopwatch. A lot of people who observed the steely girl believed that she stared at her watch often because she was very punctual with time. But her good friends Carmine and Lacey knew that it was just a quirky tic of hers.

"Is Hugh the source of Jacqueline's newfound inspiration for heroism? I had believed that it was Rosa, and her illustrious screen persona as Lucario Girl, who had captivated Jacqueline into changing her career path!"

"No, I'm… pretty sure that's just you who's into all of those Pokéstar movies, Amarys," Lacey chuckled.

"…Oh." Amarys lowered her head in embarrassment.

Carmine couldn't help but giggle.

"You really are going stir-crazy without anyone to watch action movies with, aren't you? We should make a movie date ASAP so you can get your head on straight again!"

"I appreciate the offer," Amarys replied, giving another almost-a-grin. "Although, if you're seeking ways to lift my spirits… I was actually hoping you and I could have a battle."

"A battle, huh?" Carmine put her hands to her hips with a smug face.

"Mm-hm. Lacey has told me that your team has grown stronger since your leave and that your exotic ace Poltchageist has even evolved. I'd love for a chance to see how your strategies have evolved too."

"Oooh!" Lacey clapped. "And it would give all of us a chance to see Ogerpon in action! I'd love to witness that!"

"Oh? Then perhaps you would like to jump in and make it into a Multi-Battle, Lacey?" Amarys offered.

"You guys cookin' up a big fiery Multi-Battle!?"

A short boy rushed up alongside the three of them. He wasn't wearing a traditional Blueberry uniform, but instead a much different one that looked very akin to a chef's uniform. His hair was red and mangy, with orange ends, and he had a very fiery look in his eyes.

And he was carrying around a frying pan for some reason.

"Count ME in for sure!" he said excitedly.

Carmine, bothered by this stranger and his bizarre gusto, eyed him up and down dismissively.

"Ummm, and whose appendage are you supposed to be? I didn't know Blueberry Junior was doing a tour right now. We're kind of in a private conversation here, kid."

"What!?" he reared back. "I'm no kid from the junior academy! I'll have you know, I'm one of the mighty BB Elite Four!"

"Uh-huh, sure…" Carmine nodded skeptically.

"He's telling the truth, Carmine!" Amarys interjected. "Please show him respect. He's our newest recruit."

Her eyebrows went up. "Wait, really?"

"Oh yeah, you two haven't met yet, have you?" Lacey realized. "Carmine, this is Crispin! Amarys is right, he climbed the ranks of the BB League and made Elite rank while you were away! So we decided to give him Jax's vacant seat. Now he's one of us!"

"Ohh." She looked down at Crispin and brushed her hair, a little ashamed. "Well sorry for my rudeness. I guess you just don't look the type is all."

"Hey, no skin off my bones!" Crispin cheerfully responded, and shook her hand. "Name's Crispin, and I love nothing more than battling and cooking!"

"He has some of the highest marks in all the food-level courses!" Lacey confirmed.

"Wait… if your name's Carmine, you must be the one who Kieran's always ravin' about!"

"Wait, you know my brother?"

"Yeah, he and I are in the same class!" Crispin replied, holding his pan over his shoulder. "Are you telling me he's never once mentioned me and my amazing cooking skills?"

Carmine shrugged. "Ehhh. If he did, I just wasn't paying attention. Not your fault, kiddo."

"Well he talks about you all the time, and how strong you are compared to him! I've always wanted to meet ya!"

"Is that so? Well… I'm certainly not against having such an admirer of me and my skills in the BB League. That'll be good publicity for when I'm famous y'know."

"Hey, you know what'd be a great idea? Crispin, you should join in on this battle!" Lacey suggested. "Pokémon battling's always a great way to get to know someone!"

"Wow! Hey! I've got an even spicier idea! Why don't we invite Kieran to join in too!?"

"Really?" Carmine was perplexed. "You want to invite my little brother?"

"Yeah! Seeing as how I've battled him a few times before, I'd love to see how differently two siblings battle! I'll go ask him right now!"

Crispin suddenly ran off without waiting for a reply, stunning Carmine.

"Wait! Hey! I didn't even agree to… and he's gone." She huffed. "Geez, how many energy drinks is that kid on?"

"Oh, he's always like that," said Lacey. "Crispin eats a lot, and I mean a LOT, of ultra-spicy sandwiches. I think that's what keeps him going. Heh! He's hard to eat lunch with because a lot of his homemade recipes make my eyes water!"

"Huh."

Amarys felt compelled to speak up. "If you'll forgive me Carmine… you sounded less than enthralled at the prospect of Kieran being part of the battle. Did… something occur between you two in Kitakami? Has he not become a stronger Trainer as well?"

"Well…"

Carmine stared into the abyss of her drink can, ruminating over everything that had happened with Kieran.

"It's, it's a really long story. I just hope he's in a much better mood than he came in…"

-BRRZT! -ZAP!-

They were alerted to sudden loud noises emanating from Ogerpon's treadmill.

The Mask Pokémon reacted in distress as the screen became glitchy and static-y, and the machine lit up in sparks.

Suddenly, it exploded and Ogerpon fell backwards, landing on the floor near the trio.

"Oh my gosh!" Carmine ran over. "Ogerpon, are you okay!?"

"Og-uhh… pon…," Ogerpon responded in a daze, her eyes all swirly.

Amarys gazed at the smoking remains of the treadmill.

"She must have surpassed even this piece of machinery's limits."

Carmine chuckled awkwardly. "I guess it'd be better for everyone if you looked for places to run in the Terrarium instead. Heh-heh… oh man, I really hope they aren't going to expect me to pay for that."

"My buddy here was… hurt pretty bad a while ago. Real bad, in fact. And he never fully recovered."

Juliana knelt down to her knees and gazed sorrowfully at the weak and debilitated Masbosstiff laying almost motionless on the ground.

"Have you tried a Pokémon Center?" she asked. "Potions and things? They don't work?"

"Nothing seems to help," Arven lamented. "Not Potions, not Pokémon Centers… nothing."

"Poor little guy…"

Arven went on to explain that Masbosstiff was basically all he had in the world to care about. And that he started reading about the Herba Mystica and how eating all five of them would supposedly cure you of all ailments.

His quest to take down the Titans, he revealed, was all that so he could attain each of their Herbs and use them to try to heal his crippled partner.

"Case in point, Mabosstiff's paws were cold as ice before he ate that last herb. But they've warmed up a little now—I'm sure they have!"

Miraidon gave a sad cry that echoed throughout the Titan Pokémon's mysterious cavern. Juliana continued watching Mabosstiff with an expression of pity and guilt.

"Arven, I… I had no idea. That you've been dealing with all this. I—I should've realized sooner."

"Hey, don't put it all on yourself, Juliana! Really, I'm the one who should've been more honest from the beginning. You probably thought I was some blowhard jerk the first time we met… After an impression like that, I guess I didn't expect you to help me unless there was an exciting adventure in it for you."

Juliana shook her head.

"Honestly, if I had known from the beginning you were doing all this for your partner, I—I would've been all in without you having to say anything else. I wouldn't have let myself focus on anything else until we got him all better again!"

Arven smirked. "Yeah, yeah I know. You've got a real good heart, Juliana."

"In fact I…" A look of even greater guilt washed over Juliana. "I wouldn't be tackling the Gyms right now, or going along with Cassiopeia… Most of all, I never would've gone on that school trip in the first place. Now I kind of wish I hadn't…"

"Huh?" Arven was surprised by this response.

"…I abandoned you. When you needed me. I was being selfish."

Juliana held her arms with her hands, feeling overcome by a wave of shame. Miraidon looked a bit distressed at its partner's disposition, and tried to nudge playfully at her to make her smile.

Arven gave Miraidon a look, not of malice but of something… different. Like guilt of his own. But he calmly stood in front of Juliana and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Hey… come on now, little buddy. Don't be thinking like that." He smiled at her as best he could to try to reassure his companion. "You've been a tremendous help for me. I don't care that you went on a trip, or that you… actually let that student council girl rope you into the Gym Challenge? Oof."

Juliana calmly looked up at him, her face still unsure.

"You've got a whole life to live and that's totally cool! You should be going on as many adventures as you want! As long as you're always taking some time to think about your ol' pal Arven and helping out when you can… that's fine!"

"You… you really mean that?"

"Yeah! With your help, I've made more progress with getting all these Herbs than I ever would've on my own! You're the best kind of partner I could've asked for, partner! Now come on." He held his arms out. "Bring it in!"

Juliana grinned, and let Arven embrace her in a warm hug.

"Feel better now?"

She smiled even more. "Yeah. Thanks, Arven. You're not such a bad guy after all."

"Glad to have restored my reputation!" he remarked.

"Grrrrr…"

They both heard a soft noise and were drawn to Arven's Mabosstiff.

"Oh! You done eating, bud?"

Arven calmly stood over his Mabosstiff to examine its state. Mabosstiff grunted as it tried to lift himself up… but couldn't get very far before slouching down again.

"Ohhh…" Juliana uttered.

But then Arven noticed something new.

"H-hey! Mabosstiff! Can—can you see? Are your eyes open!?"

Indeed, though the worn Boss Pokémon's eyes had been closed the whole time Arven had it out, its striking yellow eyes were visible and glancing up at its master once more.

"Yes! I did it!" Arven jumped up in the air in delight. Then he knelt down and wrapped Mabosstiff in a very gentle but loving hug. "It… it's been so long since he was able to open his eyes! I was so worried…"

Juliana beamed. "Congrats, Arven!"

I guess I am making an impact after all…

She watched Arven's heartfelt interactions with his slowly recovering partner. It tugged at her heartstrings.

And… it jolted her memory.

For a brief second, she didn't see Arven and Mabosstiff there.

She saw Carmine and Ogerpon.

Dancing with each other. Smiling. Picking each other up.

…

Arven caught Juliana's eye for a second and grinned along with her, assuming the tear running down her face was for Mabosstiff.

"Hey Kieran, are ya in there?" Crispin knocked. "It's me, Crispin!"

The door to his room wasn't locked, so Crispin decided to let himself in.

"How's it hangin', dude? I haven't seen you since you got back! Whatcha been up t— Whoa!"

-BAM- -BAM- -BAM-

"Huff… huff… huff…"

"Wowww, Kieran! I had no idea you were into boxing now!"

Kieran was down deep in his own little world.

In the center of his room, he had a large punching bag set up on a hook descending from his ceiling. It was an orange bag with black lines, and bore the logo and face of the Elite Four member Marshal and his gym equipment brand.

And Kieran was going at it, punching it really hard with repeated jabs. He had wrappings on his knuckles, which didn't show blood stains but were still indicative of the stress he was putting on his hands.

"That's so neat! I wish I had known you had such a cool hobby. Hey, you know Cammie, right? The girl a year above us, likes to brag all the time that her parents are both big time Gym Leaders in Sinnoh?"

Kieran just grunted in response.

"Right, her!" an unfazed Crispin replied. "Well, she started a boxing club at Blueberry, and her mom even lent her some of her Gym equipment for it! She's got a whole punch of punching bags, training dummies, armor. Even an optical treadmill! We could join it together, I bet you would get a real kick out of it!"

Crispin smiled bigly at his classmate who… seemed to show no signs of acknowledgment.

"Wow, you're really putting in the work there. Are you training for something?"

Still no response.

"Oh!" Crispin realized. "I got something really cool to tell ya! You know the BB League, right? The strongest Trainers in the whole school? Well guess what! Your pal Crispin's one of 'em now!"

He pointed boastfully at himself with both thumbs.

"Isn't that cool? I'm like, the hottest kid in our class now! Everybody wants to battle me now, because they think I'm the cream of the crop! And well… I guess I am," he said bashfully. "Heh. I guess I'm just… not used to that kind of attention. I'm like, all famous now or something. Halfway there to being the most famous chef in the world!"

Crispin adopted a chill smile as he held his hands over his head. But even still, Kieran acted like he wasn't even there.

"Hmm. Okay. Thought you'd be a little happy for me, but whatever…" he muttered. "Anyway, umm… what was I here for again?" he scratched his head. "Oh right! I just met your sister Carmine! Super nice girl, really tall too! She's a crazy terrific battler, right? That's what you said? And she's got a cool new Pokémon with her I've never seen before!"

Crispin didn't notice, but Kieran's fists started hitting the bag a little harder.

"Uhh, so yeah! She and my fellow League mates were about to do a big Multi-Battle, and I wanted to come and check on you to see if you wanted to get in on that! I know how much you admire the BB League!" He chuckled softly. "Buuuut I can tell you're really into your exercise there, so I guess I'll just leave ya be. … See you around class!"

He started to leave without a response. He made it halfway out the door when…

"Wait."

Crispin turned around, surprised to hear Kieran finally speak. Kieran stopped hitting the bag and addressed Crispin without turning around.

"So… being in the BB League. You're saying… that makes you feel really strong and powerful? And that everyone else thinks you're the best Trainer in the school now because of it?"

"Well… yeah! I guess so!" Crispin replied with a laugh. "I get lots of respect now. I mean, not as much as the other members I guess… oh, and especially not as much as Drayton! But that's just because he's the Champion of the whole League, y'know?"

"…"

"Drayton's so cool. He's probably the coolest, most strongest guy in the whole school! At least I think so! Everybody in the whole school wants to be friends with him."

"…"

"Ummm. So… do you want me to tell the others yay or… nay on that battle?"

"…Go," Kieran finally said. "Just go. I've got things to do."

…

"OKAY!" Crispin said cheerfully and walked out of the room.

Kieran stood alone, staring at the punching bag. He felt his fists starting to tremble.

He reached into his pocket, and pulled out… a Pecha Berry.

Gazing blankly at his odd charm, Kieran placed the Berry on the desk in front of him and closed his eyes.

Images began to flash in his head. Bitter, stinging memories of before.

"I'm gonna become someone people can rely on. I want to become the strongest Trainer in my school."

"I-it's all… 'cause I'm too weak…"

Why do you keep ruining everything!? I need to prove that I'm the strongest! And you always beat me in a battle!"

"It's because I'm weak. And the ogre knows it. I'm nothing but a big baby. Pathetic little Kieran…"

His foot stomped. And stomped some more.

Then, his wild yellow eyes opened. A newfound resolve washed over him.

"I need to become...a lot stronger," he decided. "Stronger. Stronger! Stronger and stronger and stronger!"

Kieran ruffled his hair furiously.

"I can't stop until I've become the strongest Trainer ever. No more weak, pathetic baby Kiki who needs someone to protect him."

His face started to clench bitterly along with his fists.

"I want to be somebody who nobody would ever dare look down on, or lie to! Or refuse a battle just because I'm soft!"

The gleaming Pecha Berry drew his attention. Looking at it seemed to fill him with some inspiration.

Time to shed the old Kieran away forever…

"The ogre is going to regret the day it turned down my friendship."

With a new wicked smile on his face, and his eyes fixated on the Pecha Berry's unique look, Kieran grabbed at the ends of his hair, and he started to bunch them up together, making his purple roots stand out more.

"Carmine… And Juliana… Just you wait."

The sun was still shining bright in Asado Desert when Juliana and Arven made their exit from the Titan Pokémon's grotto. However, the sandstorm had subsided and the desert seemed a lot calmer now.

"Ahh, good," said Arven, scanning the area. "That brutish Pokémon still hasn't come back yet. What was that thing anyway? It looked like a lot of Donphan, but its tusks were so huge! Those yellow eyes, and all those red markings on it… what was that all about?"

Juliana sweat a little, not wanting to reveal her inside tip from Arven's dad…

"Uhhh, yeah. It… sure is a mystery, alright. It was strong as IRON, that's for sure!"

"Well, at least we beat it and got the Herba Mystica. That's all I care about. I gotta say, Juliana…"

Arven turned to her and smiled sincerely.

"It's been really great having a friend along the way. I've never really… had a lot of friends growing up, or even really a family, and this has been so much fun."

"Thanks, Arven. I'm having a lot of fun with you too."

"And I'll tell ya what, that person you're helping out? They probably appreciate you just as much as I do. I bet even Nemona does too, despite how much of a snob she is."

Juliana chuckled a little. She still felt a little insecure about the emotional moment she had had back there.

Arven put his hands on her shoulders again and very gently shook her around.

"So don't let me ever catch you moping again, okay? You'll never be happy if you spend all your time worrying, and I need my partner to be at her absolute best to fight the rest of these Titans! Promise?"

Juliana grinned widely. "Ha-ha… yeah. Okay. Promise."

"Great! That's my little buddy!"

Arven gave her an encouraging slap on the back… but to his surprise, Juliana lost her balance and stumbled forward when he did.

"Woah! You okay there, bud? I'm sorry, I didn't think I hit you that hard!"

"It's okay, wasn't your fault…"

Juliana's knees trembled as she got herself standing up again.

"Just… been a long day, y'know?"

"Okay. If you say so. I'm going to go scout ahead for where our next Titan is. And uhh… maybe you should think about calling it a day. Cascarrafa's right nearby, they've got hotels there that I think give a discount for students on their Treasure Hunt."

"Yeah…" Juliana dusted the sand off your clothes. "That sounds like a good idea. Thanks, Arven."

"See you around!"

Arven gave a thumbs-up to her and started walking his own path through the desert.

Once he was out of sight, Juliana creaked her back to try to get it straight again. She didn't know why her body felt so achy all of a sudden.

Was she pushing herself too hard?

"I don't know," she muttered. "The day's still young… And my next Gym's in Medali, which is really close to Cascarrafa, isn't it?"

She pulled out her Rotom Phone to check her map.

"Hmmm… maybe if I get there and just have a quick bite to eat, all my strength will come back and I can go straight to challenge the Gym! That'll sure make Nemona proud!"

She hoisted her bag up like she watched Arven do and headed in the direction of Cascarrafa, deciding she would make a plan when she got there.

As she started heading up the trail, she noticed something peculiar in the distance.

A young couple, dressed in tropical clothes meaning they might be denizens of the nearby Porto Marinada, were setting up a picnic table on one of the small sand hills.

Huh? People having a picnic, here in the desert? Carmine was right, I guess we are kinda freaky about our picnics…

Although the sun was out in Paldea, Unova was experiencing the late evening moon. And most of the students in Blueberry Academy were winding down in their rooms, getting ready to get a good night's sleep for all the battling and studying that awaited them in the morning.

Lacey was one of those students, putting on her pink silky robe as she heard a knock on her door.

She opened it. "Oh! Hi, Carmine. What are you doing here so late?"

"Hey Lace…" Carmine said groggily. "I know it's late, but could I ask you for a favor?"

"Sure, what's up?"

Carmine was dressed in her undershirt and hastily put on uniform pants.

"Could… Ogerpon sleep with you for tonight?"

She sheepishly held up Ogerpon, who pressed her arms together like pleading fingers for Lacey.

"What's wrong with Ogerpon?"

Carmine winced. "I think she's scared of the dark."

"Pon…"

"Oh no!" Lacey had her hands over her mouth. "Poor thing!"

"Kiki took all our plug-in lights with him. I was fine with it but… Ogerpon didn't seem to want to settle down in all that darkness. I'm a little too tired to find more lights tonight so—"

"Say no more!" Lacey declared. "I would be humbly glad to host your adorable ogre for tonight. The two of us can have a proper girl's night!" she clapped.

"Pon-pon!" Ogerpon cheered at the idea, which made Carmine smile, especially as she peered inside Lacey's dorm and looked at all the pink string lights she had.

"Thanks, Lacey. I really owe you one."

"Nope!" Lacey shook her head and crossed her arms together like an X. "That's just what friends are for, Carmine!"

Carmine left Ogerpon with her excited friend and walked back to her dorm room alone.

Juliana strode up to the picnic table.

"Hey there, guys! Room for one more?"

"Ugh, seriously? Is the whole town going to come up and eat with us? We only have enough food for the two of us, you know!" she seethed.

"Awww, sis, lay off! We always have a bunch of food leftover, and besides, Juliana's our best friend!"

Kieran smiled at her.

"Of course you can join us. You can have a seat right here on the bench!"

"Awww, thanks, Kiki."

Carmine grumbled. "Seems like I'm being outvoted here…"

Juliana happily took a seat on the siblings' picnic bench, which was spread out with their grandmother's favorite tablecloth out in the grassy field.

"Picnics with you guys are always the best!"

"Yeah well… I guess things are a little better now that you're here," Carmine reluctantly admitted. "Would you like a sandwich, Juliana?"

"Sure!" Juliana leaned in closer to Carmine. "What kind is it?"

"It's a honey and Qualot Berry sandwich with ricotta cheese!" Kieran proudly told her.

"Ooooh!" Juliana's knees bunched together in excitement.

Carmine giggled at how adorable she was.

"It's supposed to be really good at maintaining your blood sugar and improving your immune system," Carmine explained. Her fingers danced on the bun. "It's also… supposed to be really good at… drawing out your deepest feelings."

"Ohh, really?" Juliana leaned in even closer to Carmine. "I think I'm starting to feel it already…"

Carmine touched Juliana's chin.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah…"

"…!"

Carmine's eyes snapped open.

"Ohhh… just as it was getting good," she moaned sleepily. "…Wait. What am I even saying?"

She sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes.

What kind of a dream was that? I'm used to having all sorts of dreams about me and Kiki doing stuff together but… why the hell was Juliana there? And why was I engaging in sweet talk with her?

She groaned in annoyance.

"Damn you, Juliana… First you invaded my home, and now you're invading my dreams. When will it end?"

Carmine looked around her dark and empty room. Just minutes ago, she was in bliss… enjoying a bright sunshiny day with her smiling brother and her new friend.

Now it was all gone.

And she had nobody. Not even Ogerpon, to comfort her.

Carmine bunched her blanket up close to her and sat against her knees, trying not to feel lonely.

"I'm a big girl…" she said quietly to herself. "I can take care of myself…"

Chapter Text

Juliana stepped out of the Medali Gym with her Mienfoo alongside her. She proudly gazed at the Normal Badge in her hand.

"Five Badges now… Nemona's going to be real happy with this, Mienfoo."

"Mienfoo!" Mienfoo took a defensive stance all of a sudden as it watched over Juliana's back.

"Hee-hee. You're always on-guard for me, aren't you? Well, we've got three Gyms left to go. I guess we're going to have to be on our guard from now on."

She had barely made it down the end of the block before she heard someone clearing her throat.

Juliana turned around and was surprised to see Larry, the Gym Leader of Medali, slowly march up to her.

"Finally," said Larry. "I called your name three times. Didn't you hear me?"

"Umm…" Juliana looked sheepish.

"Well, at least that exotic Pokémon of yours noticed me. A loyal guardian like that is a good thing for a kid to have."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Larry. What's up?"

"You left this behind."

The soft-spoken businessman pulled out a photograph from his pocket and handed it to Juliana.

"Oh! The selfie we took!" Juliana realized. "I must've dropped it! Thank you!"

"It's no problem," Larry nodded. "I still don't… really know who started this whole trend of the students taking photos with us. But if it will really help you remember how great our battle was, then I hope you cherish it always."

Juliana chuckled. "Thank you, Mr. Larry. I will!"

"You're welcome." He looked at her blankly for a second before pondering something. "You're one of those students who went on the Uva Academy field trip to Kitakami, aren't you?"

"That's right! How'd you guess that!?" Juliana then looked to her left. "Oh… I guess because of my Mienfoo, huh?"

"Foo!"

Larry glanced at the Martial Arts Pokémon.

"Well… now that you mention it, yes, I had been rather puzzled at how you had several non-Paldea native Pokémon in your party. You really made it more challenging for me to strategize."

He cleared his throat.

"But as it happens, my workplace co-sponsored your trip. So I had to do a lot of—I mean… I helped with the paperwork that got you and the rest of the students on the trip."

He scratched the back of his head and grumbled a bit. "As well as all the clearance for you all to use Pokémon outside Paldea's Dex in the Pokémon League…"

"Wow," said Juliana. "I had no idea your job entails so much! No wonder you look so busy!"

"…Thanks," Larry responded, deciding to assume she meant that as a compliment. "I hope that your trip was the kind of fun and confidence-building exercise the boss was hoping for. It seems like it's toughed you up considerably. I think the other Leaders are all going to have their eye on you."

"T-thanks, Mr. Larry!" Juliana graciously bowed.

"Keep up the energy you have now and you'll go far. I think you might even have potential to be a Champion." Then, after a pause, Larry picked up his briefcase. "Well, in either case, my break time's over. Time to go back to work."

Juliana, a little puzzled, watched him walk down the road to report for his salary job so soon after their Battle had finished.

"Take care of yourself, Juliana," he said as he pulled out his flip phone to start calling a Flying Taxi and disappeared.

"Huh," Juliana commented after he was gone. "He's a nicer guy than I expected. He must be really dedicated to his job AND being a Gym Leader. … I hope he has some excitement going on in his life."

"Mien…"

Mienfoo started to give a cry of agreement, but then it swiftly looked around and raised its guard again.

"Huh?" Juliana looked at it curiously. "Are you sensing danger again? I don't know who could jump out at us in such a quiet town like thi—"

"SURPRISE!"

Juliana was cut off as someone suddenly glomped her from behind.

"AGHH!"

"Mien!?" Mienfoo jumped back in shock.

"Ta-ta-tachán! Did you miss me, Juliana? 'Cause I sure missed you!"

Juliana breathed easy when she recognized that boisterous voice.

"Geez, Nemona, you almost gave me a heart attack," she giggled.

"Ha-ha! Oops, sorry."

Juliana's tall and excitable friend sheepishly let go. She wore her black hair in a long ponytail, with two distinct green bangs sticking out in the front, and her Uva Academy uniform loose and relaxed.

"I was just so excited because I knew! I just knew! Once I heard you were back in Paldea, I was 100% sure I would find you tackling your next Gym right away!" Nemona threw her fists down excitedly. "You won! Right? Right!?" She looked insecure. "…Right?"

Juliana snickered, and proudly held up the Normal Badge.

"YES! Ha ha!" Nemona jumped high into the air and pumped her fist up. "I never had any doubt, of course!" She excitedly hugged Juliana again really tightly. "You've become such an amazing Trainer, Juliana!"

"Awww, Nemona," Julina blushed. "I missed you so—MIENFOO, WAIT!"

Mienfoo was charging up an extremely large Aura Sphere while leering right at Nemona.

"Friend, friend! Nemona friend!"

Juliana hastily took herself out of Nemona's embrace and held her tenderly by the cheek, as Nemona flashed her incredibly big smile at Juliana's overprotective ferret Pokémon.

"Mien?" Mienfoo, finally understanding there was no danger, folded its arms. "…Mien."

"Oh. My. GOODNESS!"

Mienfoo was startled again when Nemona went right up to its face all starry-eyed with her fists balled up.

"What is this Pokémon!? I've never even seen it before! You must've caught it in Kitakami, right!? How strong is it!?"

The Martial Arts Pokémon continued to eye this stranger and her eccentric personality warily.

"Oooh! I want to see ALL the cool exotic Pokémon you caught in Kitakami! I bet you fought some really strong Trainers over there too! What were they like!?"

"Uhh—" Juliana had forgotten how this girl functioned, and was a little lost for words.

Nemona could definitely be an overwhelming person to talk to sometimes, with her seemingly bottomless amounts of energy. But she was the first person who was really kind and patient with Juliana as she learned the ins and outs of battling for the first time.

Plus, she had such an unbeatable passion for battles, and Juliana had really come to respect and even admire that about her. Living for her best friend's smile had become Juliana's primary motivator during the early days of her Treasure Hunt.

"No, wait! What am I saying? The best way to see how far you've come!" She eagerly fished out a Poke Ball and flashed her arm forward. "I want to BATTLE all your cool new Pokémon! Right here, right now!"

We've only been talking for a minute after not seeing each other for a week and she already wants a battle…

"I'm glad you haven't changed at all, Nemona," Juliana giggled.

Carmine waved a flashlight at the comforter sheet hanging by a wire, shining on it like a spotlight.

"And 3… 2… 1! Here she cooooomes!"

Like an elegant model, Ogerpon parted the curtain and walked out. She was clad in a small purple gown. The skirt swayed gently like a butterfly in the wind as Ogerpon strut her stuff, making the poses Carmine had demonstrated for her and flittering her little eyes like a flirting model.

"Ohhhhh, so regal!" Carmine clapped excitedly. "All the biggest fashion agencies should be ringing the phones right now wanting to sign you!"

Ogerpon blushed as she swayed around happily in her dress.

"A 10/10 look for sure! That would pair even lovelier with a ballroom mask! Hmmm…" She pondered. "Are you game for wearing different masks just for play, Ogerpon?"

"Ponn…" Ogerpon seemed to consider the question and then looked at Carmine with a non-committal face.

"Not sure? That's okay. We don't have to do what you don't wanna do," Carmine nodded. Ogerpon smiled appreciatively. "Anyway, here's what I was thinking of next…"

Carmine pulled out a vintage white-and-green dirndl dress in a child's size.

"A little taste of your mountaineer roots! What do ya think?"

"Ponio!" Ogerpon cried excitedly.

Just then, they heard a knock at the door.

"Hmm? Come in!"

Carmine called out, not noticing that Ogerpon had begun to tremble slightly. The door opened.

"Huh? Kiki?"

"Sis."

He glanced at Ogerpon with a sneering look.

"Ogre."

"Pon…" Ogerpon was inexplicably shaking like a leaf, as if Kieran's whole aura was giving her bad vibes again.

"I need a favor from you."

He was annoyed to only get Carmine's snicker in response.

"Wh—what did you do to your hair?" She burst out chortling. "You look like an onion, Kiki!"

Kieran, who had pulled his hair back and tied it in a knot so that his purple roots were prominently visible, just looked annoyed by his sister's teasing and grit his teeth while lightly stamping his foot.

"You finished?"

Carmine was shut up by her brother's curt tone. Ogerpon seemed even more unnerved by Kieran's new tics for some reason, and took to hiding behind the makeshift curtain.

"Like I said, I need a favor from you. Are you going to listen or what?"

"H-hey! Is that any way to talk to your big sister?" Carmine seethed. "You haven't said a single word to me since we came back to school! And this is how you finally open up, by making demands? I don't care what kind of a mood you're in, you still need to show me respect if you know what's good for you!"

Unfettered by Carmine's threats, Kieran proceeded to explain.

"Let me make it simple for you. I've decided I want to join the BB League, and I know you've got friends in the Elite Four. I don't want to waste my time fighting all the weaklings at the bottom, so I need you to put in a good word for me."

"Good… word?"

"All you have to do is convince one of your friends, like Lacey, to give me a personal recommendation."

"Lacey? But why wo—"

"People who get recommended to the League by someone as important as the BB League start out at a higher rank, don't they? And I just want to get to the top as soon as I can."

"Wait, okay, back up a second!" Carmine pushed out with her hands to get a word in. "First off… since when are you feeling ready for the BB League? You used to go on all the time about how intimidating the League is for you, and that you're not cut out for it."

"That… was the old me," Kieran gravely replied. "The weaker me. Now I want nothing more than to be the strongest Trainer, the best around. So are you going to help me or what?"

Carmine huffed in frustration that Kieran was still being so sharp with her.

"You know, 'please' is still a word that exists around these parts, you little runt. But even if you weren't forgetting your manners, the answer would still be no, Kiki."

Kieran reared back, stunned. "What!? But why not?"

Carmine sighed a little, and tried to talk to him more gently.

"Look… that's really cool that you've finally become confident enough to take on the BB League. As your sister, I couldn't be happier, and I'll support you every step of the way! But… I can't tell my friends that you're ready to face them head-on right now. They'd never believe me. And to tell you the truth, I don't believe that either."

Kieran looked gutted by this response, and Carmine hated to see that.

"I mean, I could probably beat them all if I wanted to, sure! But you've got a long ways to go before you'd stand a chance." She gritted her teeth. "Especially against that blowhard Drayton! That big Archaludon of his would probably stomp you flat in seconds, Kiki. The last thing I'd ever do is put you in a position to be humiliated like that."

Kieran shut his eyes in deep thought. Carmine stole a glance over at Ogerpon, who was timidly peaking out from behind the curtain sheets. She looked worryingly at her brother, hoping that he would see reason.

But when he opened his eyes, he looked sullen.

"Of course… I get it. You still think I'm too weak just like everyone else. You just want to keep me this way forever so that you'll always be the boss of me, telling me what's best for me."

"Wha-!?" Carmine was flabbergasted. "That is—not true at all! How could you say that, Kiki?"

"Hmmph. Why don't you battle me then?"

Carmine blinked several times in confusion.

"What? A battle…? Are you serious right now?"

"Very!" he sharply responded. "I'm going to prove to you that I'm a whole new Kieran and then we'll see if you think I'm still too weak to become Champion!"

Carmine's lip twitched in anger. She couldn't believe the kind of gall that was coming out of the normally sweet, timid Kieran right now.

Resigned, she went over to her desk to draw out the capsule with her Poké Balls in them.

"If a battle is what it'll take to get out of… whatever this whole funk is, then that's the only reason I'm saying yes. Not because I'm making any promises to get you in with the Elite Four if you win."

"Fine by me," Kieran shrugged blithely.

He looked over at the comforter sheet Ogerpon was still hiding behind. She peered at him with her one worried, star-shaped pupil.

Kieran paused, as if experiencing a feeling of regret for a brief second. But then he sneered.

"Without the ogre," he bitterly declared. "Don't want you to get an easy win."

Carmine glanced back crossly as she selected her team members.

"Trust me, I wouldn't be putting Ogerpon through this even if you insisted…" she grumbled to herself.

"Qua-quack-quav-QUACK!"

"So, what do you think?" Nemona asked excitedly.

Juliana watched the tall blue peacock-like Pokémon strut in its rhythmic dancing, with a combined look that was both amused and bemused.

"It umm…" She chuckled. "It sure fits you alright, Nemona."

Nemona smiled. "I knew I made the right choice for me when I picked Quaxly back at the start of your adventure. Now get ready for this! Time to Terastallize!"

TERA-PO-GOO!

Nemona's Tera Orb burst into sparkles around her Quaquaval. Despite this, the Dancer Pokémon didn't miss even a single step, grooving in its own little world as it burst out in a blue crystalline form with a crystallized water spout atop its moving head.

"Well… I've got a big surprise for you too!" Juliana boasted.

She tossed out her last Pokémon.

Two green paws cupped together, creating the illusion of a curtain lifting. Aa they parted, two beady eyes slowly opened from behind a harlequin-like mask.

Then, a mighty cat's yowl sounded out. Pulling out a green bulb with pink flower petals, its stem appearing invisible by the Pokémon's reflective fur, Meowscarada made a dramatic stage pose as it officially entered into battle.

"Awww, your Sprigatito reached its final form!" Nemona cupped her hands excitedly. "I knew you would raise it up quicker than most!"

TERA-PO-GOO!

Juliana Terastallized her Meowscarada into the Grass-type, and Meowscarada, after striking another dazzling pose, powered up its "invisible" flower into a powerful Seed Bomb-shooting bulb that lit up around Quaquaval in wonderous green sparks, and sent the high-flowing dancer to the floor.

"Show's over," said Juliana. "Thank you all for coming."

Meowscarada bowed gracefully to an unseen audience.

"You did really great, Quaquavel," Nemona assured her partner as she recalled it. "Oh man…"

Juliana was concerned. "…Huh?"

Then, suddenly beaming again, Nemona sprinted over to Juliana.

She grabbed her by the shoulders, and started shaking her excitedly.

"Bravo! That's what I'm talking about, girl! You battled amazing! Best I've ever seen you and your Pokémon yet!"

She laughed almost uncontrollably as she let go, covering her face as she tried to contain her emotions.

"I'm so thrilled! I knew from the moment I saw you you were going to become a really strong, powerful Trainer, and look at you! You're already almost up to my level!"

"Y-you really mean it?" asked a stunned Juliana.

"Muy bien! Now spill the beans!" she demanded, getting up in Juliana's face.

"Spill the beans on… what?" she asked, backing a few inches away.

"Your strategies have changed so much! You weren't just out there catching Pokémon, you must've been battling someone REAL strong! Tell me all the deets!"

"Oh, uh… yeah! Of course, you're right. So while I was there, I met these two other students from Blueberry Academy. This boy named—"

"Ohhhh, snap!" Nemona reacted, her eyes widening. "You got to fight kids from Blueberry Academy!? Oooh, that makes me so jealous!" she rattled. "I've heard that kids who learn battling at Blueberry are a whole level above anyone else. They literally do nothing but study battling all day long over there! Now I definitely want to know their names!"

"Well, I was just about to get to that!"

"Oh… hee-hee. Sorry," Nemona apologized. "I got a little too springy again."

"One of them is this boy named Kieran, who's pretty strong for someone a year behind us. I just…" She started to look despondent. "I just wish he would stop doubting himself, and—and I wish we hadn't left on such bad terms."

Nemona, sensing that Juliana was feeling some emotional wounds, decided to prod.

"…Okay. 'm really sorry to hear that. What about the other student?"

"Oh! Yeah! Carmine!" Juliana said in a more excited voice. "She's so cool! And really super-talented at battling! She's got this really amazing Pokémon! It's—it's like a Polteageist, but a regional form that's like matcha tea, and it's got these really great Grass attacks! And… and we met this REALLY super amazing Pokémon called Ogerpon who's really adorable and can change its Type by putting on different masks! And now Carmine's training it, it's probably got to be super strong by now! And she's really pretty and, and—"

Juliana gulped and cut herself off. She was mortified to realize she had just rambled harder than even Nemona, just by thinking about Carmine.

Nemona, for her part, laughed.

"Wow! She sure made an impression on you, huh? This Carmine girl's got really strong Pokémon AND she's really pretty?"

Juliana's cheeks flushed red and she instinctively went to tug on her braid in embarrassment, only to fluster even more because her hair was a different style now and that braid was gone.

"I don't know that I like hearing that sort of talk!" Nemona began to get a crazy look in her eyes. "Is she even prettier than me, Juliana? Is she even STRONGER than me!?"

Juliana began to back up in a sweat.

"I thought I was your favorite rival! Now someone else wants to be my Juliana's bestie!?"

"I… I…"

Juliana looked frightened for a second, but… then she laughed.

"Okay, good one! That time, you almost got me with the crazy girl act!"

Nemona dropped the crazy eyes and looked disappointed.

"Ohhhhh! I thought I had you!"

"You should go back to pretending you were stalking me!" Juliana giggled. "At least I got to see you around pretty much all the time!"

The two of them laughed uproariously. Juliana's Mienfoo, who had been watching this whole thing unfold apprehensively, stared passively between its loyal owner and this girl flip-flopping with her emotions.

Finally seeming to sense she truly wasn't a danger, it passively folded its arms… and joined in on the laughter.

"Alright, Sinistcha! Scald attack!"

Carmine's Sinistcha splashed Kieran's Dipplin with a douse of hot water. It didn't do very much to the Grass/Dragon Pokémon, but like Carmine hoped, Dipplin was left with a nasty burn.

"Yes!" Carmine celebrated.

The two siblings had gone out onto the Terrarium, a huge artificial landscape within Blueberry Academy's underwater structure, painstakingly created to perfectly simulate multiple biomes that all sorts of different Pokémon inhabit.

The battle arena they had chosen was on a plateau next to one of the outdoor classrooms within the Canyon Biome, a section of the Terrarium whose breezy winds and mountainous fields always pleasantly reminded the pair of their native Kitakami atmosphere.

Kieran growled angrily.

"If you win due to blind luck, I swear, sis! Dipplin! You'd better muster up the best Dragon Pulse you got!"

Dipplin put on its best determined eyes, and charged up a strong purple beam of energy that it fired at the Matcha Pokémon.

Sinistcha took the brunt of the attack without fainting, as Dipplin took heavy damage from its Burn.

"I think it's time to wrap this up with our new favorite! Sinistcha, Matcha Gotcha!"

Sinistcha swirled around in its teacup and blasted life-draining matcha tea at Dipplin. The burn was put out, but so was the Candy Apple Pokémon, and the syrupy worms retreated into their syrupy apple out of defeat.

Kieran was mortified. He recalled his trusty Pokémon with a quiet but simmering look.

Carmine meanwhile, breathed a sigh of relief.

"That was a really great battle, Kiki! I've gotta admit, you have grown a lot stronger since the last time you and I got to have a battle like this," Carmine smiled eagerly. "I'm so proud of how far you've come."

Kieran's face slumped and he didn't respond.

Carmine gulped. "…Kiki?

She heard him mutter something.

"What?"

"…Weak. Weak. Weak! WEAK!"

Kieran furiously scratched at his head where his long bangs used to be, gripping onto his pulled back hair in immense fury.

"I'm still just as weak…" He grumbled, seemingly to himself more than Carmine. "I thought I could really pun a win. Dumb, pathetic Kieran!"

"Hey! Did you even hear what I said? You've grown a lot since our last battle and you were so much more confident back there! Now learn to take a compliment already, you angsty little twerp!"

To her distress, Kieran just stomped his foot really hard on the grass-covered dirt and his fists trembled maddeningly.

"But I'm still not good enough!" he whined. "I'll never be where I want to be if I'm still losing this bad to the likes of you!"

"The likes of… Kiki. That really hurts."

Kieran had his arms folded and his head almost buried in them. Even Sinistcha was looking upon him with concern.

"Sinees…?"

"Forget it," he finally said. "This battle was probably the wake-up call I needed anyway. I'm really not ready to face the Elite Four. Not yet anyway, I need to become stronger…"

He gazed at the Poké Ball containing his Dipplin and began to squeeze on it.

"Stronger and stronger… If I have to defeat a bunch of weaklings to build up my team and make it to the top… Then so be it."

He started to walk away, much to Carmine's surprise, still simmering to himself.

"Kiki! Hey Kiki… wait!"

Frantic, she rushed over and grabbed Kieran by the arm.

"Just wait one second!"

"Let go of me, sis," he growled.

"No! You listen to me!" she snapped. "You've been acting so weird ever since we got back from Kitakami, a-and I don't like it one bit! I miss my little brother! The nice and caring Kieran who didn't care how weak he is—err, thinks he is!"

She looked at him pleadingly, even though he refused to face her.

"Now look, this needs to stop already. You and I need to sit down and talk this out, so we can figure out how to snap you out of thi—"

"There's nothing WRONG with me!" Kieran barked. "Now LET GO OF ME, CARMINE!"

Carmine was shellshocked to have Kieran yell at her like that. She didn't even let go on purpose, her hand just limped away from his arm.

Kieran turned around, and his face screamed with rage.

"You miss a pathetic, weak little boy who couldn't defend himself! Forget about all that stuff, because little boy is gone! I'm all grown up now and I don't need you holding my hand anymore! Okay!? So just—just stop it! Just let it go already!"

Despite his face being red with anger, his eyes were also tearing up.

"You could never understand how I feel! You've got everything you could ever want! Everything I've ever wanted!" he ranted. "You're friends with all the coolest Trainers! You got the ogre all to yourself! You even got Juliana t—to…"

The tears were practically streaming down his face now.

"You'll never understand how much I need this! NEVER!"

Carmine was fighting back from crying herself.

"Kiki…" She desperately tried to reach her arms out and hug him. "Please… I'll listen… Just tell me what—"

"UGH!"

Kieran forcefully pushed his sister's arms away, almost making her stumble to the ground.

"JUST SHUT UP ALREADY!"

With that he ran off, yelling in anguish.

Carmine… Carmine just stood there. Her eyes were dry, but her pupils were tiny. Her whole body was shaking. A couple of students were looking at her now, having witnessed the whole blow-up.

To her, they may as well not be there.

She just looked, horrified, off in the distance. Her voice, low and croaky.

"Kiki… Please… Please come back... I'm so sorry…"

"WHAT?!"

Juliana and Nemona were sat on a park bench near the Treasure Eatery in Medali, and Nemona had just reacted in surprise at what Juliana was offering her.

"You—you really want me to trade me one of your Pokémon from Kitakami?"

"Yeah!" Juliana answered. "To be honest… I haven't been using Hakamo-o as much as I thought I would. I guess I don't need a Dragon Pokémon for much right now, and… Mienfoo's been covering my Fighting-type needs pretty well. So yeah. I think you would do a lot more with it than me."

"Awww…" Nemona accepted the Ultra Ball containing Juliana's Hakamo-o—now hers, with grace. "Thanks, Juliana! I'll raise it really well and make it into a strong partner! You're the best pal a girl could ask for!"

She leaned over and gave Juliana a friendly side-hug.

"By the way, I've been meaning to tell you… your new hair is so cool! It's a really great look on you!"

"Aww, thanks!" said Juliana, brushing up her ponytail. Then she realized something.

Oh yeah. I'm rocking a new hairstyle, and Arven never said anything about it. She scoffed to herself. I bet he didn't even notice, did he?

"It's called a Kitakami ponytail. Carmine… well, her grandmother that is… she gave me this look for the Festival of Masks and… Carmine said that it made me look really cute, so, I guess I just kept it."

"Ha-ha! Well, I agree with her there!" Nemona smiled. "You really like this Carmine girl a lot, huh?"

Juliana grinned to herself. "She… she's one of the most unique people I've ever met. And I had so many fun adventures with her in Kitakami. I was so sad when we had to say goodbye… I hope I get to see her again someday."

"Well, I hope so too," said Nemona, putting an arm on her shoulder. "Having a friend who means that much to you it's… it's one of the most wonderful feelings in the whole world. And hey!" That comforting shoulder rub turned into a playful punch. "If she ever comes around our neighborhood, then you gotta introduce me to her too! I'd love to battle her!"

"Ha-ha, it's a promise!" Juliana laughed.

The two sat together, eating their fresh sandwiches from the Every Wich Way branch in Medali.

Juliana looked at the Treasure Eatery thoughtfully.

"I think my new goal…" she decided. "…is to find enough of those special Tera Shards so I can change my Meowscarada's Tera Type like Larry talked about. Being Grass Tera is cool and all but… I think I could unlock its full potential by having it Terastallize into something else."

"Yeah!" Nemona replied with her mouth full. "Look at you, strategizing so much! I gotta do that with my Quaquaval too! No more predictable Water Tera!"

"We make each other stronger!" Juliana grinned.

"¡Qué guay!"

They gave a fist bump to each other.

Now it was Nemona's turn to look thoughtfully at the restaurant.

"Hey… You know, I've been thinking about it. What I said, about how wonderful it is to have a good friend?"

"Mm-hm?"

Nemona turned to Juliana and smiled warmly at her.

"Thank you… so much not just for letting me be your friend, but for being my friend, Juliana."

Juliana smiled back. "Of course. You're welcome."

"Y'know, you'd think that me being a Champion and President of the student council and all that would make me one of the most popular girls in school but… not so much," said Nemona with a bothered face. "In fact, sometimes it feels like there's—there's an invisible wall between me and the other students."

"…Like a barrier," Juliana realized.

"Yeah! Exactly like that! I don't really know why it is… Whenever I try to challenge one of my classmates to a battle, they make up a lame excuse to leave me hanging. And everyone says I have this… innate gift for battling, or that I was raised differently or whatever. It's like they see me as a whole pedestal above them." She whimpered, "Or, maybe it's just because I'm just… too much? Like, all my emotions and stuff?"

Juliana was surprised. She had never seen this kind of insecure side to Nemona before. She thought about what it was like breaking down Carmine's walls and… realized she was unconsciously following the same process with her best friend.

"But it's—I'm not scary, or crazy or anything like that! Right? I just love battling so much and want it to be fun. That's why I try to go easy on everyone! And that's, that's good right?"

Juliana wasn't sure what to answer.

"…Maybe? But, so you're saying you feel like you never get to battle with all your heart? That you're always holding back?"

"A little bit, yeah. I guess—I guess that's why I want you to get even stronger, and make it all the way to the top. So I can have someone who's finally equal to me, and we can battle our hearts out!"

For a moment, she'd gotten her excitement back. But then she looked frazzled again.

"But I mean… I'm not putting pressure on you, right? I don't want to find out that you have been scared of me this whole time, and feeling like you just have to do this for me, and—and…"

Juliana could tell her friend was becoming extremely self-conscious and she put her hand on Nemona's lapped hands in order to calm her down.

"Hey. Of course you're not pushing me, Nemona. I'm doing this… because I want to! Because it's a lot of fun and I want to be a really strong Trainer too so I can figure out what it is I treasure the most!"

Nemona smiled again, and Juliana beamed to see that friendly smile pop up.

"You've been such a great friend to me, Nemona, and a great rival! I wouldn't trade all this for anything in the world."

Nemona sniffled hard, and smiling cheek-to-cheek now, she embraced Juliana in a really big, tight hug.

Juliana felt that warm feeling in her heart again, like her whole self just blossomed on the inside whenever she was around Nemona.

Except… it was different now, she came to realize?

She used to feel these sorts of fuzzies every time she hung out with Nemona, before her trip to Kitakami. She'd actually wondered if she might be harboring a little crush on her new friend.

Now that they were seeing each other again after Kitakami, it wasn't like that feeling had faded. But…

It wasn't the same kind of intense feeling now. In fact, Juliana realized that all that warmness and gooey feeling she felt inside of her… had been much stronger in Kitakami, the more she got to know Carmine.

To the point that it was like her heart warmed up and started beating faster every time she looked at Carmine, and Carmine smiled back at her.

Why did Carmine completely overtake Nemona in making her feel that way? Is that how much she valued Carmine as a friend?

Or… even more than that?

"Hey."

Nemona broke away from their hug.

"Thank you. I'm sorry for unloading all that on you, I guess I, I guess I just really needed to hear that."

Juliana grinned again and held out her hand.

"Of course. Rivals to the end, remember?"

Nemona giggled happily and accepted the tight handshake.

"Yeah! Rivals to the end!"

Carmine held on to her arm as she tried to push her legs forward down the hallway back to her dorm. She was still nursing a thousand-yard stare on her face, trying to convince herself that whole scene at the Canyon Biome hadn't just happened.

She felt herself come down to earth a bit as she saw her Lacey running up to her, her arms rocking around femininely.

"Carmine! Carmine!"

She forced herself to hold her head up and smile as Lacey approached.

"Is it true? I heard that Kieran just signed up for the BB League!"

Carmine blinked.

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess he must've…"

"Yaaaaay!" Lacey squeed, gripping Carmine's hands in hers. "I was really hoping he would join someday! I always felt like he had the potential to make it really far!"

"You did?" Carmine reacted in surprise.

That was a strange revelation. Was… she the only one doubting her brother?

"This must be a happy day for you! Now you're both tackling the League together!" She had a look of realization. "Oh. Well… I guess you're still taking a break from the League and all that, after your last loss."

"You had to go and remind me…" Carmine rolled her eyes.

"Sorry!" Lacey winced. "I guess I'm just too excited for Kieran. Maybe seeing your little bro get stronger will be just the push you've been needing to try again! Or not, and that's okay too. Ooooh! I'm just so happy for you two! I gotta get to class now, but we are so meeting up later! See ya round, Carmine!"

"See ya."

Carmine watched Lacey run down the hall, blissfully unaware of the turmoil Carmine felt in every bone of her body. She knew Lacey couldn't read her emotions, with how hard she was working to bottle them up until she could get back to her sanctum.

She opened the door to her dorm room. She calmly walked over to her bed.

Her knees gave out. As she sat over her blanket, she could see her hands were still trembling.

"You'll never understand! NEVER! JUST SHUT UP ALREADY!"

Kieran's harsh words rang through her head like a gong. She was surprised to feel saline dripping down her face, and reached her hands up to feel tears were welling up.

"What? No, come on…" she whined. "Don't cry. You're stronger than this, Carmine… He's just going through a phase… We'll be alright again…"

Carmine hunched over, almost determined to just lay her head down and let it all out.

Then she felt something tap her shoulder.

"…Huh?"

Her wet eyes looked up to see Ogerpon, standing on her bed and smiling down on her. Ogerpon had put on the bright green dirndl Carmine had picked out for her.

"Awww, Ogerpon…" Carmine cooed, wiping away her tears. "You look positively adorable."

"Ponio!"

Ogerpon cried out in thanks, and then she knelt down and embraced Carmine, wrapping her whole grassy cloak around Carmine in a big fuzzy hug like a blanket.

Carmine laughed, and wrapped her own arms around Ogerpon's.

"Thank you, Ogerpon."

Chapter Text

A month passed by very swiftly for everyone in both Paldea and Blueberry Academy.

For Juliana, to call it an eventful month would be an understatement.

In that amount of time, she had successfully defeated all eight of the Gym Leaders in Paldea, challenged the Pokémon League, and against all odds, won against the Top Champion of the League Geeta aka "La Primera", becoming Paldea's newest Champion Rank Trainer.

And that's not to mention two days before that, where she conquered the last of the Team Star bases, leading her mysterious contact Cassiopeia to reveal that she had been the big boss of Team Star all along!

So now, as Juliana approached Mesagoza, the town where her whole adventure had begun, destiny was awaiting her from two directions.

"Any second now...Ah!"

Nemona turned around with a delighted smile.

There you are, Juliana!"

Juliana marched up to her friend with a face of maximum determination, a much different and more confident girl than the one Nemona had first met.

"What, did you think I wasn't going to show up?"

Nemona giggled. "Never had a single doubt. You ready for a battle between Champions?"

The senior Champion gazed at the scene of Mesagoza slowly forming, where multiple Uva students started running up, whispering to each other as they gathered near the square where the two girls stood.

"'Cause all these folks here seem ready to watch. Word got around, I guess!"

Juliana watched in awe at the crowd that was slowly forming. Having only been a Champion for about a day, it was beginning to set in on the young girl that this was the first of many times she was going to feel like a real celebrity in Paldea.

"Wow… this is what it's like to have the whole region looking up to you, huh?" Juliana observed with a slightly nervous face.

"It's not too much pressure, is it?"

Juliana swallowed her anxiety. "Nah! I've always wanted to be someone who people can depend on. Guess this is just the next step!"

"Good. Because out of every single person gathered here…" As Nemona monologued, the two girls playfully circled each other on the big Poké Ball shaped symbol. "…I'm the most excited by a mile!"

"Yeah. Me too!"

Juliana looked around and was even more surprised at how many familiar faces had gathered around the center of Mesagoza. It wasn't just the faculty of Uva. Rika of the Elite Four was there watching calmly, with a very eager Poppy by her side.

Director Clavell was stood right next to La Primera herself right in front of the hair salon. Hassell was also there, watching intrigued with his pupils.

Larry briefly glanced their way, but he was only in Mesagoza for an important meeting and had to make haste. Glad to see Geeta and everyone else could clear up their schedules for this… he mused to himself.

Feeling very nervous and yet emboldened by all the faces watching her, Juliana planted her feet on the ground and took position, eyeing Nemona confidently.

"So what are we waiting for?" she asked.

"Too true! The stage is set!" Nemona declared. "It's my all-out power versus your strength in full motion! Let's see who comes out on top, Juliana!"

She eagerly stretched out her arm in her definitive pose, ready to send out her first Pokémon.

Juliana made her fighting stance and declared just as confidently, "And may the best Champion win!"

She blushed shyly at the calamitous yells this elicited from her fellow students.

"Let's do this."

"Let's do this."

"Pon-pon!" Ogerpon gave a cry signaling that she was ready.

The ogre stood alongside Sinistcha in a Blueberry standard Double Battle, on a battlefield within the tropical hillside of the Terrarium's Coastal Biome.

Carmine gripped the translucent black orb in her hand. "Alright, so we just do this… Do I gotta hit the button?" She fumbled with it.

She heard Lacey chuckle from the picnic table nearby.

"You have to hit the button really hard, Carmine!" she shouted out.

"I AM hitting it!" she yelled back. "It's like, stuck or something! I can't—"

Then at that moment, the Tera Orb finally reacted, and Carmine jittered in shock as the Terastal energy surrounding them started charging up inside the Orb's crystal.

"WAAAAGGGGHHH!"

"Now toss it over Ogerpon!" Lacey instructed. "Hurry!"

"Yeah, before it burns your hand off!" Crispin chimed in. "Trust me, it hurts!"

Carmine belted out an anxious yell as she tossed the Tera Orb over Ogerpon, and it began to light up.

TERA-PO-GOO!

The familiar sound of the Terastal phenomenon sounded, and her Tera Orb sparkled over Ogerpon, generating a wall of crystals that encased the Mask Pokémon, and then…

"PONIOOOOOOOO!"

Carmine had already seen Ogerpon Terastallize once before, but none of that took away from how incredible it still was to witness.

Ogerpon and her Hearthflame Mask became one. The small ogre all but disappeared behind the mask as it enlarged and lit up like a giant sparkling face. Yellow flame-like tendrils surrounded its backside, and as Ogerpon cried proudly, huge swirls of fire roared in the air around her.

Amarys and her team, which consisted of Metagross and Reuniclus, looked up at the spectacle in awe.

"…Well then," she uttered, adjusting her half-moon specs.

"WHAAAAAT!?" Lacey screamed. "I mean, I knew you wouldn't make up such a fantastical story about the way Ogerpon Terastallizes, but—but I really thought you were making it up! What kind of power is that!?"

"That's so COOL!" Crispin was so excited he jumped right out of his seat. "Where do I get me a mask that lets ME do that!? I wanna burn bright too!"

Carmine giggled at the reactions of all her friends. And Ogerpon made an excited noise to suggest she was happy with all the attention too. The windy air of the Coastal Biome blew through her hair, increasing her aura of a confident battler.

"You'd better check that watch again Amarys… because I think your time is about to be up!"

"Oooh, that's a good one," Lacey whispered.

"Ogerpon! Go for a super-charged Ivy Cudgel on that Metagross! And Sinistcha, put a Hex on 'em both!"

Carmine's Sinistcha released a wave of sinister hex energy over both Metagross and Reuniclus.

"Protect yourself, Reuniclus!"

Amarys's Reuniclus put up a protection barrier to withstand Sinistcha's wave. But in the time that had happened, Ogerpon had finished charging up her Ivy Cudgel and smacked a huge whammy of sparkling fire over Metagross.

"Meeeeeta…"

Metagross's Tera Jewel shattered, and the huge metal behemoth fainted.

"Yes!" Carmine pounded her fist. "Great work, Ogerpon!"

"Ponyo ponyo!" Ogerpon cheered from behind its colossal Terastallized mask.

"Now Sinistcha… use Stun Spore so we can fry that green jelly menace!"

Sinistcha spread a bunch of paralyzing powder all over Reuniclus.

"We still have one more gambit within our arsenal." Amarys's glasses went opaque over her eyes. "Reuniclus… set up a Trick Room."

"Eeeunn!"

With the use of psychic projection, the spatial dimensions around Reuniclus and its opponents were completely warped.

Carmine gasped. "But that means Reuniclus will…"

She saw a glint of an evil look from her crafty friend.

"Now Reuniclus… Psychic."

"EEEUNN-EEEEEE!"

Taking advantage of the speed priority this bizarre change in dimensions had granted it, Reuniclus released all its psychic energy in a huge burst that hit both Ogerpon and Sinistcha.

Ogerpon remained standing from the blast… but it took up the last of Sinistcha's energy, and the Matcha Pokémon melted into its teacup.

"You did good, Sinistcha. Rest easy for now." Carmine recalled her matcha partner. "I'm still pretty rusty with some of these higher-level strategies…"

"Time is short," Amarys remarked, sneaking a look at her silver watch. "But not for me. Your ace partner has been downed, and even with its unique and amazing Terastallized state, your Ogerpon appears to be nearing its limit."

"Oh yeah? Wanna know how it really feels to have your time shortened? Ogerpon, time to use that brand new move! Horn Leech!"

"Pon-yo-pon!"

Ogerpon locked in the huge horns on her Hearthflame Mask and jousted Reuniclus with them, sapping its energy and rejuvenating Ogerpon to peak fighting condition again.

"Og-uh-pon-PON!" she cried determinedly.

"Oh… now my glasses have fogged up from the excitement," Amarys lamented. "Reuniclus, I think another Psychic attack is on order."

"Reeee—YUNN!?" Reuniclus was about to ready an attack, but paralysis struck it at the most inconvenient time, rendering it unable to move.

"Oh."

And a wicked smile entered Carmine's face.

"Ogerpon… NOW! With all the might you have! Roast Reuniclus to smithereens!"

"PONIO!"

Ogerpon bounced on her two feet, essentially a happy ritual of exorcising all thoughts of mercy, and readied her Ivy Cudgel one more time. Burning with the passion of a thousand suns, Ogerpon laid it down like a hammer upon Reuniclus.

And through the fire and the flames… mitochondria was the powerhouse of the cell no longer.

"Reeeuuuuuun…"

Amarys recalled her last Pokémon, and with a proud nod, she clapped softly for her friend's victory.

Carmine squeed and picked up Ogerpon in excitement.

"Great job, Ogerpon! That went way beyond just being a showcase! You're so talented!"

"Pon-pon!" Ogerpon blushed and cried happily.

"Woooo!" Lacey called out. "That was an amazing show, Carmine!"

"Truly an exhilarating battle, Carmine." Amarys slowly walked up to Carmine and gladly shook her hand. "Thank you for giving me this opportunity to witness Ogerpon's power up close. It's rare that I feel the urge I do right now, to regroup my team and think of brand-new strategies just to have a chance at out-maneuvering your Pokémon's strengths the next time we battle."

"Ha-ha! Thanks for the shower of compliments, Amarys," Carmine beamed. "And thanks a million for letting me borrow this Tera Orb. Here ya go."

She held out the Tera Orb she had used. But to her surprise, Amarys shoved it back and threw her arms up in a "no, no" gesture.

"No. It's yours to keep."

"What!?" Carmine reared back. "Bu—but I'm not even at Ultra Rank, remember? The rules say—"

"The rules only specify that the BB League is obligated to bestow a Tera Orb to members who achieve Ultra Rank," Amarys interjected. "There's nothing stating that I, as president of the student council, can't also grant someone an orb from our collection just on personal approval. And… our friendship means more to me than arbitrary expectations anyway."

"Ohhh, Amarys! Thank you! Thank you!" Carmine wrapped Amarys in a grateful hug. "You're a one in a million friend! I'm so glad to have you in my lane!"

She didn't see it, but Amarys smiled a soft smile behind her shoulders.

"Quack-quack-qua-quaaack…"

Quaquaval's flamboyant dance moves were cut off once again as the Dancer Pokémon's wings were clipped for good. Its Fighting Tera Jewel shattered, and Nemona recalled her partner in shock as it fell.

Meowscarada yowled a mighty cry of victory and took a graceful bow for its large audience. Its Flying Tera Jewel in the shape of colorful balloons glistened and slowly dissipated. The Magician Pokémon's show was complete.

Slowly but surely, the crowd of students surrounding Juliana and Nemona began to murmur and whisper in surprise. They just witnessed something they'd never seen before. Nemona, the president of the student council, was known to everyone as the youngest person to ever become a Champion and one of the strongest Pokémon Trainers in Uva Academy.

And now… this girl. Half a year younger. Having only just become Champion within a few months of starting out as a Trainer… had not just proven herself evenly matched against Nemona, but won a exhibition match with her.

Juliana looked all around her and smiled. She felt a great sense of importance around her that was completely new and unexpected. This was huger than when she beat Geeta.

All of her classmates and teachers' eyes were fixed, not on Nemona, or on their Pokémon, but on her.

A few of them were even chanting her name.

She spied La Primera herself among the crowd, giving Juliana a proud nod of approval while standing next to an equally impressed Director Clavell.

The Top Champion's words echoed in Juliana's head.

"Champion Juliana… It is now your duty to set an example for all of the Trainers of Paldea."

Then the cheers stopped.

Juliana looked around, confused, to see everyone's expressions change. Then she turned back to her friend and noticed that Nemona had her eyes buried into her arm, in a pose that looked… distraught.

Juliana silently recalled Meowscarada and eyed her friend, concerned.

The rest of the crowd watched with surprised faces too, wondering how Nemona was taking this. Even the normally chill Rika was stretching along with Poppy to try to get a read on the girl's face. Clavell and Geeta's mouths were agape.

"…Nemona?"

Juliana calmly inched forward closer to Nemona, not sure if she should intervene.

"You…"

Juliana gulped.

"YOU DID IT!"

Suddenly, Nemona's face jumped out at her. Her eyes were wide like saucers, she had the hugest smile on her face, and she yelled at the most excited octave.

Juliana stepped back in shock as Nemona began to throw her arms around and bob up and down in joy.

"This is legit incredible! You're the strongest out there, Juliana!" Nemona raved. She charged right up in Juliana's face, startling her even more. "I mean, you knocked me flat! And I was giving you absolutely everything I had! Everything I… I…"

Nemona clenched her face. And then, for yet another surprise, she started laughing. She laughed a real big, hearty cathartic laugh, right in Juliana's face. Juliana could even feel a bit of spit.

"Ha haaa! Hahaha! Oh man! Pokémon battling, am I right? It's so much better—so much more fun than I ever knew!"

Clavell and Geeta both nodded emphatically.

Nemona held out her hand. "Thanks for that incredible match. You beat me for real this time!"

And Juliana finally realized it. She had finally given Nemona something meaningful: the battle she'd been longing for where she could give her full strength—and with Juliana reigning victorious over her strongest team, the satisfaction in knowing that she had a rival she would never have to hold back against ever again.

Juliana smiled a big smile, feeling wonderful all inside herself that she could give this much to Nemona, and gladly returned the handshake. The impact of their hands reverberated, and everyone around them clapped and cheered.

Then it was Juliana's turn to give Nemona a shock, as she playfully gave her a light push.

"Man! You really need to quit playing with my emotions already, Nemona!" she sniped, giving her own cathartic giggle. "The only thing you're just as good at as battling is playing little tricks on me like that!"

"Ha-ha-ha! Well, get used to that because you're in it with me for the long haul, amiga!" Nemona laughed back. "Now! Let's give ourselves a minute and have a quick break, Juliana…" She held up a Poké Ball. "…before round two!"

Juliana's eyebrows jumped up. "Wait, what!?"

Geeta threw up her hands and Clavell brought his face to his forehead, both resigned to Nemona's unstoppable energy and feeling sympathetic towards poor Juliana, who began to back away in awkward fear.

"Nemona…"

"Which Pokémon should I bring out this time?" Nemona wondered, now holding multiple Poké Balls. "Decisions, decisions!"

"Nemona…"

"WAIT! I could totally hit you with my new teammates you traded me from Kitakami! Oh, you're going to be so thrilled when you see what Hakamo-o and Ribombee have beco—"

"NEMONA!"

Nemona almost dropped her Poké Balls in surprise.

"Look…" Juliana chuckled awkwardly. "You and I have all the time in the world to battle now. But… I just became Champion yesterday, okay?"

Nemona looked down, starting to feel a little guilty.

"And—and this was one of the most exhilarating battles I've ever had! Someday, I'd love to battle… our hearts out, like you always say! But, but my legs are killing me right now."

She stopped to stretch out her back and grasp both of her legs with a loud grunt. Miriam, the school nurse, watched Juliana do all this with a puzzled and… slightly concerned look in her eyes.

"Besides, well… I actually have to meet someone else here at school after dark for something important."

She gave a side glance over to Director Clavell, who sympathetically frowned in response as he looked down. At least until, seeming to realize he was dropping his mask, he pretended he was brushing his coat, and then shyly looked away. Geeta gave him a confused look.

Juliana snicked. "Think I haven't figured out who you really are, Clive…?" she whispered.

Then she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Juliana, I am so sorry." Nemona was looking down at her apologetically. "I… I got so excited by our battle, that I—I forgot about boundaries! Champions have to be understanding of each other. That's what Director Clavell said, right? Of course we can finish up for today if you want. As your amiga, I should always remember to give you the space you need."

Juliana smiled warmly at her, glad to hear Nemona was so understanding.

"And I mean…" Nemona started to twiddle with her fingers. "If—of course, the battle we had was so wonderful for you that—that you don't need someone like me weighing you down anymore, and getting all up in your face, so you can find stronger opponents, then—then I totally understand if you, you…"

She trailed off, looking a little sad. She knew what she wanted to say, but Juliana could tell she was feeling anxious.

Nemona almost squinched her eyes shut, but stopped when she saw Juliana's pinky in her face.

"Huh?"

"Hey…" Juliana grinned. "Rivals to the end, remember?"

Nemona beamed widely. She eagerly returned the pinky.

"Yeah! Rivals to the end!"

The two friends stood and giggled with each other for some time, their friendship stronger than ever.

"And this one lets her Terastallize into the Water-type. And this one…" Carmine laid out the Cornerstone Mask. "I think she becomes Rock Type? Am I right?"

She looked at Ogerpon, sitting next to her maskless at the picnic table with Amarys and Lacey, who nodded affirmatively.

"That's so cool, and these faces are all soooo cute!" said Lacey, eyeing each of Ogerpon's adorable painted masks in delight. "There's only a handful of Pokémon out there that can change their types like that. And she can do it just by wearing a different mask? That's so special!"

Ogerpon smiled. Then she sniffed the air and started bouncing around excitedly.

Sure enough, the steamy smell of fresh, hot dishes accompanied Crispin as he arrived to the table with several cloches full of food.

"Bon appetit, everyone!" he declared. "I'm experimenting with vegan recipes today, so enjoy this sesame pineapple roast a la plancha! With sweet potato fries!"

Everyone dug into the delicious lunch plates Crispin set out.

"Mmmmm." Carmine couldn't help but make noises as she ate. "You know what, kid? I know I gave you a hard time when we first met, but you and I are going to be fast friends if you keep on bringing out delicious food for me to eat. I'll make you my personal chef when I become famous!"

Crispin chuckled. "Well… I've got much bigger dreams than just cooking for one person. But I dig the compliment!"

Lacey took a big bite of roasted pineapple and radish and addressed the girl sitting directly across from her.

Lacey giggled. "What are your aspirations, Carmine? I know you mention wanting to be famous all the time, but you never really talk much about what your actual dreams are."

Carmine, surprised by the question, just shrugged.

"I mean… I dunno. I want to be a really well-known person who everyone respects but… I haven't figured out how I actually want to get there. My only big claim to fame is carrying the high score in our festival's Ogre Oustin' game for three years in a row."

"Pon?" Ogerpon reacted in confusion.

She gently rubbed Ogerpon's head affectionately and giggled. "New name still pending, of course."

Lacey giggled. "Well, there's always time to dabble around and figure that out! My daddy didn't start his first business until he was in his mid-20's! He was just a humble miner before then!"

"Well, we can't all hope to strike oil like Clay did," Carmine snarked.

"You just have to find your special talent!" said Crispin encouragingly, stoking his frying pan. "Figure out the one thing you're really good at and focus on being the best at that! That's how I got into cooking!"

Lacey rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "You know Carmine, you really should take another shot at the BB League."

Carmine pouted. "Come on now, Lace…"

"I'm serious! With all that power Ogerpon brings, you could make a serious dent in the ranks now! None of the other members would know what to do against your one-of-a-kind queen of masks!"

"Ponio?"

"With the unpredictable strategies you and that Ogerpon would deliver, you may even stand a chance of becoming an Elite Four member like us," Amarys noted.

"Yeah!" Lacey agreed. "Wouldn't it be great if we could hang out together all the time as a team? And not just when you're out of class and we both happen to be free?"

Carmine chuckled lightly as she fidgeted with a radish piece on her plate.

"Come on, girls. You know I only pound my way through the BB League when I need something to let off steam. I don't know that I have the discipline to make it all the way through to the end of all those tough and obnoxious Trainers. I always go my own path. And besides…" she made a sour face. "Hanging out with you girls all the time sounds fire. Having to be around Drayton all the time? I'd rather be set on fire."

Lacey laughed and Amarys lightly chuckled. Crispin looked around and started laughing too, even though he clearly didn't get it.

"Well, now that you got a Tera Orb for yourself, whole avenues are open up to you!" said Lacey. "I'm so glad both you and Kieran can Terastallize now!"

Carmine's smile dropped.

"Wait… Kiki's got a Tera Orb? He's made Ultra Rank already!?"

Lacey's expression went from happiness to puzzled shock. "You… didn't know that?"

Carmine squirmed uncomfortably. Amarys spoke up for her.

"Kieran has been a… sensitive subject for her. Evidently they haven't been getting along well since Kieran started the BB League challenge."

"Oh, I'm sorry Carmine." Lacey had her hands over her mouth. "I didn't know that. I was just trying to cheer you up."

"'s okay," Carmine glumly responded. "It's just that… Kiki has been so focused on all this that he hasn't even spoken a word to me in weeks. I don't think he's eating or sleeping, either. He's changed so much I…" Her head drooped. "I feel like I don't recognize him anymore."

Lacey and Amarys both looked at her sympathetically, and Amarys put her hand on Carmine's.

"These conflcits should work themselves out," Amarys tried to reassure. "They typically do between siblings… at least, from all the research I've conducted."

Carmine chuckled. "Thanks, Amarys." She took a big sigh. "I mean… maybe I'm worrying over nothing. Maybe he'll push himself so hard that he'll just burn out." A smirk grew on her face. "And then he'll be crying into my arms again, wanting his big sister back. Wouldn't that be swell?"

"I wouldn't be so sure about that!"

The sound of that voice made her smirk vanish, and Carmine's face sagged like a dark cloud just formed over her.

"Great," she grumbled. "This was a good day."

"Ouch. Is that any way to greet an old friend?"

Drayton had a sway to his rhythm. His hands tucked behind his head. He was wearing his classic ensemble, with a dragon patterned cape descending from beneath his academy shirt like a waistcloth, and a black coat with a logo on its sleeves and back resembling a dog Pokémon of some sort.

"Sorry to hear you and your bro aren't on speaking terms, Carmine. But what about your pal the Drayster, who hasn't even gotten a full sentence out of you since you've graced us all with your presence again?"

"That's because I've been doing my best to avoid you and your dumb hair," Carmine growled, crushing her soda can. "The last thing I need right now is your bad vibes, so buzz off."

Ogerpon shook her fists and grumbled at Drayton. Not because she had any animosities towards the Champion of the BB League, but simply because she was imitating Carmine's motions every time she witnessed the two interact.

"And how's my little buddy Ogerpon doin'?" Drayton casually addressed her. "I saw you battling from way off in the distance, you're quite the little star!"

Ogerpon gave a confused reaction, and then giggled quietly.

"Don't fraternize with the enemy," Carmine mumbled.

"Well, who finally decided to show his face around here!" Lacey scolded. Her pleasant, friendly demeanor seemed all but gone in Drayton's presence. "Never attends a single meeting, but of course you stride up and join us while we've got a bunch of food and no itinerary! That's just not right!" She made an X with her arms to emphasize that.

"Hey, blame whoever's rule it was that the Champion should be doing all the League's dirty work!" Drayton complained. "I've got way too much on my plate for long meetings and all that jazz. I've barely even got time to chat now! Forgive me if I wanted to take some time out of my busy schedule to come and say hello."

Carmine rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I'm sure your schedule is jam-packed. So many classes for you to skip, so little time."

"See, you get me!" Drayton smiled at her. Carmine just seethed in her seat. "Besides, I am here on official duty! I wanted to make sure the whole Elite Four is prepared. And luckily, everyone's here! …Well, almost everyone. Where is our finely feathered friend Tayon?"

"I believe they're splitting their time with the Aviary Club they recently started," Amarys explained.

"Heh! Tayon finally started that up, huh? Good for them. But they'd better not go lack-a-daisy on training, because like I said, all of us need to be on our feet."

"What are you even yapping about?" asked Carmine.

"Because… I think the Elite Four will be welcoming into a new member into its ranks very shortly."

Everyone at the table gave him confused looks, until horror began to draw on Carmine's.

"You're not… talking about… Kiki?"

"Bingo," he pointed. "I guess you really are out of the loop. As we speak, Kieran is about to partake in the battle that determines whether he makes Elite Rank right now."

Carmine spit out her soda so hard it came out her nose. Her eyes were wide as could be.

"Wh—Are you serious!? L-Lacey! You didn't say anything about him being THAT far beyond Ultra Rank!"

"I-I didn't know either!" Lacey stammered, just as shocked. "That's where he was at last time I checked on the scoreboard website! And that was only two days ago!" Her hands cupped over her mouth. "Oh my gosh… You weren't kidding. There's… there's no way someone could be moving as fast as him unless he really hasn't been eating or sleeping a single bit. Just battling his way to the top!"

"To have forgone his hygienic routines and still come out victorious in every battle speaks to the sharp incline his team's levels and his battling techniques must have taken," said an equally astonished Amarys.

"Wow! He must be REALLY determined to win!" Crispin remarked, seemingly oblivious to everyone else's reaction.

He looked confused though as Drayton suddenly straddled over and hunched over him.

"I wouldn't be just sitting around and flipping pans all day long if I were you, Crispin," Drayton warned. "You might really have to turn up that fire."

"Huh?"

"Well if you want to keep your seat on the BB Elite Four warm…"

He patted Crispin on the back a few times and walked away from everyone.

"Laters."

Crispin just looked confused.

"What—what did he mean by that?"

"Pompus jerk…" Carmine muttered under her breath.

Amarys dug out her pocket watch. Carmine thought it was just her tic again, but this time she gave it a serious look and stood up from her seat.

"Are you… done already, Amarys?" Carmine wondered.

"Mm-hm. If Drayton speaks the truth then… we may indeed be facing your brother very soon. I'm going to need to put in extra training hours for my team in order to prepare."

"Yeah, she's got a point," Lacey had to concede, getting up and gathering her things as well. "We should probably go and watch Kieran's match so we know what we're up against. Especially because… well, if he is going to become an Elite Four, then I guess we should show our support." She noticed Carmine's glum expression. "Oh but… you don't have to come if you don't want to, Carmine."

Carmine stayed fixed to her seat, her hand clutching her chest, as she agonized over her thoughts.

Her eyes stayed closed for a while, and then, with a slightly less dour expression, she went to stand up too.

"No… No, I should go too. Regardless of how I'm feeling about Kiki right now… he's still my brother. And Grandma said she wants me to be more supportive of him so… that's what I'm going to do." She tried to force a smile. "Who knows? Maybe he's gotten over his weird angsty phase by now and will be happy to see me."

Lacey smiled sympathetically for her friend. "That's keeping the positive spirit, Carmine. I'm very proud of you. Umm… I am going to have to rush over though. Sorry."

"Don't wait up for me," Carmine replied as she watched Lacey and Amarys run off.

Carmine sighed to herself as she worked up the courage to get up from the table.

"Ponnn…"

She looked next to her and saw Ogerpon was still sat down, looking a little nervous. For some reason, Ogerpon seemed even more cautious about avoiding Kieran than her. She figured the small Pokémon must have grown scared of him after everything that transpired in Kitakami.

"Don't worry…" she said softly. "You don't have to come."

Ogerpon gave a questioning cry, then a look that seemed relieved.

"You can go run around in the Terrarium all you want. I'll come find you after we're done."

Ogerpon nodded, and allowed Carmine to walk away.

…Which just left Crispin there to stand and huff.

"Okay seriously, does nobody know what he meant by the whole 'warming your seat' thing?"

"Juliana…"

Juliana, looking all around the dark, empty schoolyard, turned around to see the Big Boss of Team Star face-to-face.

"Thanks for coming. And congratulations on becoming Champion. That was a terrific battle in the town square earlier."

Cassiopeia lifted down their hood. Juliana looked surprised, but only for a brief moment, to see the same girl wearing an Eevee hoodie and fluffy backpack with a head of red-and-blue hair who she met on the Academy stairs and had been serving as Cassiopeia's—her own supply unit.

"Penny."

Penny smirked. "That's right. The big boss… Cassiopeia… They were both me all along."

Juliana stepped forward. "I had a feeling."

"…You did?" Penny was admittedly a little caught off guard now. "What was it that gave it away? Was the whole 'supply unit' thing too obvious?"

"Well… not at first," Juliana answered. "But I started wondering, and then, well… I guess it was the last conversation we had. I mean, the last time you showed up as Penny."

"Mmm." Penny looked down for a moment. "…What was it I said?"

Juliana shrugged. "It was just when you started talking about how Team Star became the bullies in everyone's eyes and complaining that the teachers got it all so wrong…"

Penny winced a little. "I guess I let the mask slip back there, huh…?"

"It's not just from that. I mean, call it experience, I guess."

"…You used to get bullied too, Juliana?"

"No, but…" Juliana began to smile a little in reminiscence. "I met another girl, not too long ago, who said she went through a lot of the same things you and Team Star did. And she talked about how she felt the only way to overcome those bullies was to hit back at them. So when I met you and you talked about that incident a year ago… you reminded me a lot of her. And I guess that's when it clicked."

"I see…"

"But…" Juliana took on a stern expression. "I knew she was wrong to look at it that way, and I feel just the same here. Team Star going after the same bullies who tormented all of you was never going to fix anything!"

"I know…" Penny replied bitingly. "I know. We went on our big pushback operation… and it backfired. Hard. And I whined about the teachers and all that, but deep down I know it was really all my fault. I'm the one to blame for all of it. That's why I took sole responsibility for Operation Star and disappeared, back to Galar. To save my friends from my mistakes…"

Penny looked down glumly at her feet.

"But… I didn't just create Team Star as an anti-bullying measure, you know."

"I know…" Juliana sympathized. "You did it so that all those misfit kids and outsiders could find a family in each other. That's—that's what I realized, after we talked to each and every Team Star boss. They all became… Team Star became their greatest treasure. That was you, thinking with your heart."

Penny closed her eyes and smiled.

"…They're my greatest treasure too. But I never realized all that until it was too late. Solving our problems with force didn't help anybody. We just made it worse for everyone… I made it worse. And now Team Star has become everything it was meant to counteract against. And we're all going to pay hard for it… My friends, they're all so lost. And so sad. Nothing like how I remember them."

But Penny, with a look of determination, pulled out her fluffy Eevee bag and took a Poké Ball out of it.

"That's why we're fixing all of that here tonight. You and I, Juliana."

Juliana gulped. "Do you really want it to go down like this?"

Penny nodded. "I do. This is the only way to make things right."

She gripped the Ball, containing one of her Veevee friends, tightly.

"So you'd better give it everything you've got, Champion."

Carmine picked up her pace as she ran to the battlefield. Nobody had told her that Kieran's determination match was happening on one of the highest points of the tall, mountainous Canyon Biome.

She was out of breath by the time she'd finished traversing all those staircases and bridges to get to the battlefield, where several students were gathered in a crowd around the combatants.

She spotted Amarys in the crowd and ran over.

"Hey… am I late?" she sputtered.

"Sufficiently so. Both of them are down to their last Pokémon, and I'd say they're on their way to making their final turns. Roderick has just Terastallized his Pokémon, but Kieran had to recall the Pokémon he used it on."

Kieran, his hair still tied up in that crazy purple bun, was facing a student who looked like he might be in Carmine's year or older. He had an Electivire and an Alolan Ninetales, Terastallized into the Fairy Type, against Kieran's… Grimmsnarl and Incineroar!?

Carmine was spellbound.

"I know he had an Impidimp back at home. He must have finally raised it up…" she said quietly.

But… when on earth did he get an Incineroar!?

"Viiire…"

The other student Roderick's Electivire had just fallen to an attack from Incineroar. The electric sparks running around the Pokémon indicated it had managed to set up Electric Terrain before fainting.

This left just his crystallized Alolan Ninetales, but this student wasn't deterred.

"Leave 'em blind, Ninetales! Dazzling Gleam!"

"Ninetales!"

"Put out a Light Screen before it commences its attack, Grimmsnarl!" Kieran sharply commanded.

Kieran's Grimmsnarl quickly put up a barrier that covered both itself and Incineroar.

"Niiiiine… tales!"

The Tera Jewel shot out bursts of Fairy energy and all nine of the snowy fox's curled blue tails lifted up as Ninetales unleashed a dazzling burst of light. It echoed through the Light Screen and hit both Pokémon for lessened power.

But it was enough power to still take Grimmsnarl down for the count.

Kieran growled… rather loudly and boorishly, which Carmine worryingly noticed as uncharacteristic for him.

"I should've put a Focus Sash on it instead of a Focus Band… Stupid, stupid, stupid."

"Hey, don't feel too bad," said Roderick. "It's all a part of the learning experience. We're still not done yet, and you've done really great just to make it this far!"

This didn't seem to bring any solace to Kieran. In fact, the way his face twisted and his yellow eyes flared up in response suggested it was doing the opposite, and making him angrier.

"Incineroar…" he growled between his teeth. "Burn that arrogant thing to the ground. Go Flare Blitz!"

"Huh!?" Roderick was surprised.

A few of the students clammored among each other.

"His Incineroar took so much damage!" a girl whispered. "How does he know the recoil from Flare Blitz won't make Incineroar faint and end it in a draw?"

"I don't think he does!" the guy next to her answered. "I think he's just taking the risk!"

"Gambling with an unknown variable can be a reckless strategy…" Amarys bemoaned.

Incineroar wasn't going to back down from the challenge though.

"INSHINNUH!"

Incineroar gathered up all its energy and took a huge charge forward, tearing up the ground in its burning passion. It grappled the Alolan Ninetales with full force and crashed to the hard dirt with the Fox Pokémon in tow, setting off a crackling wave of fire.

The crowd of students gasped.

Ninetales was down for sure. Its eyes were all in swirls and it was covered in vicious burns.

"Ninetales, return…" its Trainer gulped.

Then all attention was turned to Incineroar, to see if it still stood.

The Heel Pokémon was covered in scrapes as well, and struggling to get up from the ground with all its might.

"Grrr… Roar…"

"Come on, you…!" Kieran gritted.

But, slowly but surely, a finger rose up as high as it could. And became a fist.

Like a pro wrestler on the ropes, Incineroar refused to take it laying down and remained steady.

Everyone broke out in surprised applause. Even Carmine was compelled to clap wildly for her brother's victory. "Whoooo!"

Kieran whipped around, much to her shock, and locked eyes with her, having recognized her yell. She couldn't read his expression. It didn't seem angry with her… but he also didn't look too joyous, even though he had just won.

As the crowd began to patter out, whispering vibrantly among each other, Kieran's opponent walked over and humbly offered his hand.

"Hey… great job. Kieran, right? That was one heck of a match, dude."

"Hmmph." Kieran just crossed his arms. "Your strategies don't really match your cocky attitude."

"W-what?"

"Is this what the BB League's strongest Trainers have to offer? All hot air and no challenge?"

Roderick was extremely taken aback, having expected a much more sportsmanlike response. "Wh—What are you…!?"

"How ridiculous. You should be taking your position in the BB League seriously, not treating it like a cutesy game on the playground. When I'm the Champion of this whole League, things are going to be a lot different around here," he asserted.

His opponent wasn't sure how to react, and Carmine was rather shocked by his callous attitude.

"Uhhh… r-right. Well, like I said… good match and all that."

"Whatever."

Flustered, he decided to let Kieran be and take his leave.

As Roderick walked past Carmine, she heard him mutter, "Drayton had better wake up and put that kid in his place."

She heard Crispin moan as he walked past too.

"Man… it really is gonna be either me or Tayon losing our seat, isn't it? I need to go train my buds as hard as I can…"

Carmine decided to approach apprehensively after seeing this display.

Kieran eyed her, and she hesitated for a second. He still didn't look… angry with her? But it was so hard to tell. She had never felt this out of sync with her bro before.

As she walked up, she decided to speak first.

"Hey, Kiki."

…"Hey."

Okay, so he's willing to talk to me at least.

"Ummm, that was such an awesome battle. Like, really, really fantastic!"

"Thanks."

"Your team… they all looked so cool out there. They seem so much powerful now! And you're so much more confident now! You really are a whole different person."

She smiled bigly to show him how impressed she was. He cracked a subtle expression at that, but then he began to simmer a bit.

"It's still not enough… I need to beat everyone in the Elite Four. And then, Drayton. After that, I'll be Champion. And finally have the respect that I deserve."

And he started to pack up his Poké Balls. Carmine's eyebrows furrowed.

"Ummm… yeah. Of course. Everyone should respect you. That's what I've been saying this whole time! But…" She winced a little, knowing that she was about to step into a minefield. "All that stuff you said to that guy after you beat him. Wasn't that all… a little harsh?"

Kieran stopped. His back stayed turned to Carmine for a solid few seconds as he stood up. Then, he gave her a side-eye.

"Really? You're the one to tell me that?"

"What do you… what do you mean by that?" she asked, confused.

He didn't say anything else until he finished packing up. Once he had, he said without facing her…

"You wrote the book on harshness, sis. I only learned it from the best. Who cares what a bunch of weak Trainers think, anyway? I don't need people like him being all smiley and acting like doofuses around me."

Carmine didn't say anything else. She felt a little shellshocked by that last comment. So, shaken, she decided not to speak another word and just started walking away.

Kieran didn't even seem to notice.

She spotted Amarys walking up, with Lacey in tow.

"Hey, Carmine," said Lacey.

"So that's it, huh? He's made Elite Rank."

"That's right. Now it's our duty to congratulate Kieran for his success, and tell him how challenging all of us is going to work."

Carmine bundled her arms tightly.

"Great. Good luck out there. … You and Kiki."

"You okay, Carmine?" Lacey asked concerned.

"Yeah… yeah, I'm fine."

But as she left them to their devices and started her long trek down the mountain, she suppressed a loud sniffle.

"At least he called me 'sis' again… That's a good thing, right?"

Chapter Text

Kieran's achievements really began to attract the attention of the Blueberry Academy student body.

He had just made it to Elite Rank which granted him the privilege to challenge all of the BB Elite Four in succession, and he was already cutting his way through the powerful quartet.

Tayon fell first.

Then Crispin.

And despite Carmine's expectations… so did Amarys, even to her own surprise.

Yet still, every time she watched Kieran in-person or through the livestreams, he didn't look like he was getting any more excited about his wins, only more determined. Almost more… bitter.

Everything was happening so fast, and Carmine's head was spinning from it all. By this point, she didn't even know whether she was rooting for Kieran's success or not. She wanted to be happy for her brother and support him, but a dire feeling was growing within her that if he somehow pulled through and beat Drayton… things were somehow just going to get worse.

And the distance between them would only grow

So Carmine had a lot on her mind already, and the demanding workload of school life wasn't helping matters.

As she exited her Intermediate Ability Studies class, she fretted to herself in the school hallways.

"Man… she wants me to write a whole 500-word essay on the impact of Abilities that suppress other Pokémon's abilities? And it's due by Friday? What a drag."

"Oh noooo!" she heard a voice say sarcastically. "The poor little princess from Kitakami has to write words on paper!"

She whipped around with fierce anger to see another classmate in the hallway mocking her.

"How horribly traumatic! Everyone feel sorry for her!"

"HEY!" she barked, raising her fist. "What's your problem, anyway!?"

"You wanna know what my problem is? Your freaking brother is the problem!" he snapped back.

"What—Kiki, I mean Kieran?"

"Yeah! He treated me like dirt after I lost to him, and said that he's going to kick me out of the League when he becomes Champion because apparently I'm not good enough! So you bet I got a bone to pick with him!"

"He said that to me too!" a female student snapped. "He even made fun of me, saying Lanturn is one of the lamest Pokémon out there and I should be ashamed for not relying on something more competitively viable!"

Carmine darted back and forth between the two angry students, her face full of fury and confusion.

"Yeah, well—why are you idiots crying to me over it!? What am I, my brother's keeper?"

"Well, isn't that the truth?" an angry boy strode over. "You two are always side by side next to each other, and it used to be he was so sensitive he always came crying right over to you!"

Carmine's eyes bulged. "Hey… NOBODY TALKS ABOUT KIKI LIKE THAT! Are you lookin' for a punch in the face!?"

"You see!" he pointed. "She does protect him!"

"Not only that! Did you know? She's friends with the whole BB League!" the girl shouted. "She probably pulled strings to get her little bro in ahead of everyone else! Nepotism at its finest!"

"What th—NO!" Carmine snapped back, getting a little overwhelmed as they all circled in on her. "It was the opposite of that! He begged me to do that, and I said no! He got strong all on his own, and—and so what!? Y-you can't all handle a little trash talk now!?"

More and more students in the hallway began to chime in.

"It goes way beyond trash talk! He's going to change the whole BB League and tear down the foundations of everything we worked for!"

"It's all a mess!"

"It's not fun anymore!"

"He called me pathetic!"

"He spit in my face!"

"Your brother's a freaking JERK!"

Carmine trembled angrily and her face twitched, confronted with all these angry peons at once. Her eyes kept darting around, not being able to focus on one voice at a time.

"All of you… BACK OFF! I did nothing wrong! And you're all taking out your anger on me!"

"She's right! Shouldn't we all be ganging up on Kieran instead?"

"Yeah, let's toss him out of the League!"

"No, no, NO!" Carmine growled so throatily her whole face turned red. "You leave him alone too!"

But this only elicited more angry protests from all of her classmates.

"Why don't you both go back to your little jungle island and leave the rest of us alone?"

Carmine seethed like she'd never seethed before.

"You'd better come here and say that to my FACE, jerkwad!" she lashed out, with tears in her eyes.

Just then, a light popped out in front of her.

"Huh? Ogerpon!?"

Ogerpon, seeming to sense her partner's distress, had come out of her Poké Ball all on her own and armed herself with her Teal Mask and ivy cudgel, reading to take on this gauntlet of n'er do wells threatening Carmine.

"Pon-pon-PONNNNN!" she shouted angrily.

"Grrr… you'd all better back off if you know what's good for you! Or I'll ask Ogerpon here to cream all of you and ship you back home to your mamas in a box!"

"Ponioooo!"

"Just what is going on out here?" an adult voice shouted out from a nearby room.

"Oh lovely…"

Everyone stopped and turned in shock as the art teacher of Blueberry stepped out and crossed his arms.

"Miss Carmine, you know the rules. No fighting in the hallways."

Carmine huffed. "I know, I know. Sorry, Mr. Burgh. Come on Ogerpon, put that away…"

"Grrrr…"

Burgh turned to all the rest of her classmates.

"And that goes for all of you," he said sternly. "This school is supposed to be a healthy and cooperative environment. If you have issues with your fellow students, please either settle it in a battle or talk it out civilly. But don't turn it into a circus. At Blueberry, we strive to rise above that."

The students all murmured and said, "Sorry, Mr. Burgh."

As they all began to sheepishly walk away, he continued addressing them.

"If any of you are experiencing repressed anger, I welcome any students to seek help from one of our guidance counselors. Or participate in one of my outdoor art classes. It's a very relaxing and therapeutic experience."

Burgh looked Carmine's way.

"I'm extending that invitation to you as well, Carmine. It would really help you with all of your… anger issues. And your Pokémon might benefit from expressing itself too."

She sighed. "You're right, Mr. Burgh. I'll… consider it."

With that, he returned to his classroom.

"The more things change between here and Kitakami, the more they stay the same…" Carmine grumbled. "Why do adults always treat me like the instigator?"

She pouted, ran her fingers through her hair, and crossed her arms.

"Whatever. Let's just go, Ogerpon."

But Ogerpon growled in response. Carmine looked down at her, and she hadn't been able to wipe the look that said 'ready for battle' off her face. She was still clutching her ivy cudgel and Teal Mask, clearly desiring some outlet to use them.

"…What? Mr. Burgh's right, we shouldn't be picking fights with people just to prove a point."

But Ogerpon seemed indignant, and stewed in her frustration.

Maybe I laid it on a little too thick about how we should stop all the bullies by hitting them back…

Carmine knelt down and faced her grumpy partner closer to eye level.

"I'm sorry Ogerpon… I know you just wanted to fight off the bullies in my honor. And… and I know you haven't gotten a whole lot of opportunities to run wild and unleash your abilities here. Since I haven't been doing much battling…"

"…Pon?"

Carmine felt like it had been steadily easier getting easier to communicate with Ogerpon the more time they had spent together… except for moments like this, where it felt like they were back at square one again.

"Ogerpon… would you like to go spend time at Cammie's Boxing Club again? You know…" She mimicked the actions of hitting a punching bag and whacking around a medicine ball.

The Mask Pokémon grumbled a little hesitantly at this suggestion, and Carmine knew why. The Boxing Club had been Carmine's easy answer to giving Ogerpon all that exercise she craved… quite a lot.

Not just for a lack of better ideas, but also to spare the League Club Room from having to shell out for another treadmill.

"Come on." Carmine offered her hand. "Maybe it would do you good to get out all that pent-up anger…" She winced at realizing she was echoing Burgh's words. "You know… way better than some silly fingerpainting would, anyway."

Ogerpon still seemed uncertain, but accepted Carmine's hand anyway as they walked down the halls. She was still frowning a bit, which made it difficult for Carmine not to frown as well.

After seeing Ogerpon off with her classmate Cammie, the Kitakami girl walked down the halls again in the direction of the League Club Room.

As she got closer, her steps slowly started to get faster, and faster. And faster.

Until Carmine was stomping down the halls of Blueberry Academy in a brisk pace, with an increasing look of restrained fury upon her face.

Now, instead of wanting to confront Kieran's sister, the other students were looking at her and giving her a wide berth, wanting their jawlines to remain non-crooked and praying mercy for whoever was the current target of the rough girl's ire.

Her feet were threatening to make craters in the floor by the time she swung the League Club Room door open and barged her way in.

All four members of the BB League, Lacey, Amarys, Crispin, and Tayon, looked up in shock. They were the only people in the room along with Drayton (of course he finally made one of these), who quickly ran over to block her, waving his hands.

"Hey, whoa, Carmine!" he exclaimed. "Sorry, but you saw the hours on the door, didn't you? We're in a meeting right now, Elite Four onl—"

"Buzz off, dweeb!" She flicked Drayton in the nose to get him out of her face and marched right over to Lacey.

"Ummm, hi, Carmine. What's—"

Carmine grabbed her by the arm. "You. Me. Outside. Now." And started pulling her towards the door.

Lacey looked back awkwardly at the room. "Uhhh, be back in a couple minutes, everyone?"

Carmine slammed the door behind her and backed Lacey up to the wall. Lacey leaned against it, feeling a little terrified of her bullheaded friend.

"Carmine, what's going on?" she asked nervously. "Why are we—"

Carmine shushed her. "Just hear me out for a minute, okay?" She took a huge breath. "You're facing up against Kiki next, right?"

"Y-yeah. Tomorrow. …Why?"

"Listen to me." She grabbed the edges of Lacey's pink coat tightly and pulled her in. "I need you to do me a favor."

"…?"

Carmine was breathing very heavily, and gritting her teeth. Lacey was used to her seething motions, but she had rarely seen Carmine in this much of a worked-up state.

"I need you… to beat… the living snot, out of my little brother. Okay?" Carmine let go with enough force to startle her. "Don't even think about holding back against him!"

Lacey was stunned, and her lip quivered as she tried to find the words.

"Carmine, I… Where is this coming from?"

"Just—" Carmine gently rocked Lacey against the wall. Lacey could see her eyes becoming watery. "I know how you feel about him, okay? And I know you want the best for him, believe me I do too! Just… please. Please don't hold back. Don't hand him the win."

Lacey pulled Carmine's hands back and held them in hers.

"Carmine… Of course I won't do that. You know I like your brother a lot, but you should also know I take my duties very seriously. I haven't thrown a match and I never will! Only honest battling! But…"

She gently brushed Carmine's hair out from her face.

"I guess I'm… confused? I know you and Kieran have had, a lot of issues lately. I get that. But, he's still your brother Carmine. I mean… wouldn't you still be proud to see him succeed and become an Elite Four member like us? Or, and I know this is hard to fathom, but… him being Champion? That would be such an amazing accomplishment for him! And, and you always talk about how you wish he would grow a lot stronger. Now he's doing it!"

"Yeah, I know. Of course I want to see him become a really strong Trainer. But…"

Carmine squirmed and trembled, her body making such insecure motions that were completely alien to her friend.

"Not like this," she said very shakily. "Not like what he's become. I-I feel like I don't even recognize him anymore. He's being so harsh to everyone, and—and they're all blaming me for it…"

"Wait, what!?" Lacey's distinctly defined eyebrows flew up.

"Just a few minutes ago… A bunch of students were yelling at me, telling me off 'cause of him and all the harsh things he said…"

"Goodness! That's awful! Why didn't you start with that!?" Lacey lightly pushed her away and scanned the hallways furiously. "Where are they now!? I'll go discipline them myself! That is just NOT right!"

Carmine ushered her to calm down.

"No, no please… I don't want to make it worse and have them think I'm some kind of tattletale."

"Yeah, but to resort to bullying, that's just—that's not…"

Lacey trailed off when she turned back to her friend and noticed something truly distressing.

Carmine was covering her face with her hands, trembling really hard, and gasping loudly for air.

Then Lacey saw the saline dripping through her fingers and realized she was trying to hold herself back from crying.

She swooped back over and cradled Carmine with all the affection she could muster.

"Carmine, what's—what's wrong!? Is it because of those meanies? Are… are you upset about Kieran?"

"I don't know…" Carmine said between sobs, burying her head in Lacey's embrace. "It's just, everything. I've been finding myself crying more and more when I'm alone."

Lacey huffed in anguish. "Carmieee! Why don't you tell me these things?"

"I don't—I don't want everyone to think lesser of me…" she blubbered. "But I don't know, it's like everything's going wrong all of a sudden… Kiki's become a jerk, Ogerpon hasn't been very happy around here and I think I'm a bad partner, and I haven't been sleeping well and—and…"

She stopped mid-sentence, which led Lacey to gently push further while letting Carmine's tears soak her jacket.

"And what, Carmine?"

"Something just feels off… I don't know what. It's like—like a part of me never became back from Kitakami or something. I keep feeling like I'm missing something and I don't know what… If I could just figure it out…"

"Ohhhhh," Lacey cooed. "Well, you don't have to deal with these things alone, you know. Never ever."

"I know… I just—"

The moment was interrupted by the sound of the clubroom door creaking open. Drayton uneasily poked his head out.

"Hey—"

"GO AWAY, DRAYTON! Can't you see we're having a private moment here!?" Lacey lashed out to him in a louder and harsher manner than most people would expect from sweet little Lacey. "Just—just cancel the meeting! This is a friend emergency!"

"I know, and I'm sorry. It's just, y'know—Tayon and all…"

"Then just do the whole thing without me!" Lacey insisted. "I'll say goodbye to Tayon myself later! Just go!"

"Oooookay then…" Drayon awkwardly closed the door behind him.

"You should go back in…" Carmine mumbled. "They need you. I don't want to be a burden."

Lacey huffed again, this time stubbornly. "You are not a burden, Carmine! Don't ever say that about yourself. You can cry on my shoulder for as long as you absolutely need to."

"I don't deserve you, Lace…"

"Yes you do!" She pat Carmine on the head. "Everyone deserves a little bit of Lacey in their lives, and there's plenty of me to go around!" She held Carmine's chin up and started wiping her face. "Hey. Would you like to have a sleepover in my room tonight?"

Carmine sniffled. "You mean it…?"

"Yeah! We can have a little therapeutic girls' night! And you can bring Ogerpon! I think my room's super cute vibes could help you get some well-earned sleep and get both of your heads back on tight."

"Oh, Lace…" she sniffled some more and nuzzled her head in Lacey's chest. "That sounds wonderful after the week I've been having. Thank you. You're amazing."

"Awww, I know," Lacey answered, patting her head again.

The door started to creak open. Carmine instantly grabbed a Super Potion from her bag and chucked it at the door to force it closed again.

"Will you butt out already, bozo!?" she shouted.

"Ahhhhh!" Crispin's voice whined from inside. "What did I do!? I just wanted to go to the bathroom!"

"Hehe… there's my girl," Lacey giggled.

Juliana looked out into the sun as she stepped out of the Uva Academy doors after a long and sometimes strenuous day of studies.

With much of the goals she had set for herself during the Treasure Hunt having finally been completed, Juliana was slowly assimilating back into taking all the classes she'd signed up for and doing her homework on the regular, which had been quite the interesting transition from spending all her time running between locations, meeting lots of Pokémon, and raising up her team.

She stole a brief gaze at the sun shining over Mesagoza, and started contemplating about what her next move was.

There was still the matter of the last Titan Pokémon Arven had told her about, but he was still having trouble finding a lead on its exact location in the huge expanse of Casseroya Lake, especially given that there were conflicting reports on what this supposed False Dragon Titan actually looked like.

Maybe I gotta head to the lake myself and try to find it… But it looks like such a huge lake on the map…

Juliana had just started to weigh her options when her Rotom Phone started ringing.

She answered the unknown call, but there was silence on the other end.

"Umm… hello?" she pried.

"…Juliana?"

Juliana smiled upon recognizing that voice.

"Cassiopeia? Is that you with another mission?" she said with a smug grin.

"Ha-ha… No. Not anymore."

Juliana giggled. "What's up, Penny?"

"There's something I want to talk to you about."

"What is it?"

"N-not on the phone." She heard a gulp on the other end. "Could you come meet me in front of the school stairs? Y'know, where we first met?"

Juliana thought back on her first meeting with Penny, when she was being harassed by Team Star grunts at the foot of the stairs. Hindsight made her snicker. Did those two girls ever figure out who Penny really was? Their minds were probably blown!

"Of course."

"Great. Umm… I'll be waiting..." Then she hung up.

Juliana hoisted her bag up and got ready to make the long trek down the Uva Academy stairs. As she took each step, the memories of Operation Starfall's final chapter, just a couple days ago, swam through her mind…

"Ha-hah!"

Penny gasped in utter shock as her operative "Clive" removed his disguise and revealed himself as none other than…

"D-Director Clavell!?"

"Yeah, I-I figured…" Juliana non-reacted.

"Just as Cassiopeia was your disguise, the boy you knew as Clive was mine!"

"But… but why!?"

With Juliana as his witness, Clavell revealed to Penny his true intentions of taking on a disguise so that he could speak on equal terms with Team Star. And with that, he had a huge surprise for the Big Boss of Team Star…

Her friends. Her former teammates.

They all came out to greet Penny in the flesh for the first time.

"Yo, Big Boss! Long time no see!"

Juliana struggled not to tear up as she watched this delightful reunion/sort-of first meeting unfold. She felt a little bad for Penny, knowing the girl had given every vibe of a reclusive introvert and was now forced into the most intense social gathering of her life.

Especially when…

"Hasta la vistar, Cassiopeia! And hello Penny!"

"Hasta la vistar…" Penny reminisced on the stairs. "The six of us thought up that catchphrase back when we created the team. It's so cringey it's perfect, you know?"

"I'm glad you said something," Juliana giggled. "I had a hard time not making a face every time someone said that."

"Ha ha… yeah. It's hard for me to know what's cringey on a universal level or just feels like that way to me. I'm… not so great with people, as you've probably noticed. And I never seem to find the right words. So for me… most conversations kinda feel like cringe."

Juliana laughed at that.

Penny paused for a second. "…I like you though, Juliana. It feels like you take everything in stride, and see the joy out of every situation, no matter how cringy it is. That's why I got more comfortable showing my face around you as we went on."

"Well… thank you," Juliana replied, honored at that description. "I guess I always just try to keep a positive face about everything, and… that's always taken me pretty far. That's how I seem to keep on making friends, anyway!"

Penny nodded. "I kind of… I kind of wish I was like you."

But Juliana shook her head. "You're perfect just the way you are, Penny. You and everyone else in Team Star. Anyone who's got a problem with that… they're the ones who need to change."

Now Penny was blushing. "…Thanks, Juliana. You're really sweet." But then she pulled a more indignant face. "You should've said that to Director Clavell from the beginning!"

Juliana laughed even harder now.

Because funnily enough, Juliana remembered that most of Penny's stress that night seemed to come not just from meeting all her old friends face-to-face, but that she still couldn't get over that she had been sharing all her mission intel and giving instructions to the director of the academy himself.

"I mean—that's so weird! Especially with the outfit, and that big wig!"

Clavell cleared his throat, feeling a bit awkward about the whole thing.

"And—and Juliana… you knew!?"

Juliana's lips sucked in. "Umm… I mean, it's not like he told me outright. But, uhh, yeah when he first showed up as Clive, I… kind of recognized him right away."

Clavell responded with a blush of embarrassment.

"Well. Yes." He cleared his throat. "I… thank you for playing along with my act then, Miss Juliana. Apologies if you felt odd having to carry on the charade."

Penny swiftly turned to her quintet of Team Star comrades.

"Did all of you guys know!?"

"Well, I dunno," Giacomo shrugged. "I mean, I never put two and two together or whatever, but now things suddenly make a lot more sense with the way he was spitting…"

"Yeah! 'Cause he was actin' like a big fussy grown-up, right?" Mela agreed. "He really freaked me out!"

"As a trained artisan in the craft of disguising oneself, I could see there was more beyond thee adolescent persona and antiquated hairstyle," Atticus concurred.

"Huh? Uhh—yeah!" Ortega said nervously while smacking his cane. "I-I totally knew he wasn't just another dude too!"

"Oh, Ortie…" Eri giggled. "It's okay, I was fooled too."

Penny went on to explain to Juliana, with excitement and glee, that instead of getting in trouble with the Pokémon League for hacking into their systems and stealing LP for the operation, that Director Clavell vouched for her to volunteer with the League as a way to repay for debt, and Geeta was apparently impressed with her computer skills, even inviting for her to work for them after her graduation.

"That's amazing, Penny!" Juliana marveled. "I'm glad you got recognized for your talents instead of having more adults misjudge you. You deserve it after everything you went through."

"Y-yeah. Apparently, I have "outstanding talent" or something, according to them…"

Penny sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.

"I'm still having trouble finding the right words but…" She bowed humbly. "Th-thank you...so much, Juliana. You saved Team Star—and my friends along with it!"

"It was my great pleasure," Juliana beamed.

"I know words won't ever be enough to properly thank you for all you've done. I owe you a great debt and umm…" Penny squeezed her gray hoodie with her jacket, searching for the words. "I'm like, really good with hacking and machinery and whatever. Yeah, so—If you ever figure out a way I can repay it, just let me know and I'll be there."

"Hmmm…" Juliana thought for a bit. "Y'know… I actually know how you can repay it right now."

"Huh? What's that? Wait, what are you—Ah!"

Without warning, Juliana walked over and gave Penny a soft, gentle hug. Penny didn't know what to do with her hands, or emotions. But, slowly, she let her hands fall on Juliana's back, and began to smile.

"Mm. This is kind of nice, actually."

Juliana broke off and said to her, "Let's keep on being friends. Okay? That'll mean so much more to me than anything else you could give me."

Penny considered this offer, and grinned for real.

"…Yeah. Sure. No problem. You really do feel like a friend to me after all that. Next time, I'll be the one helping you!"

"I can't wait!" Juliana grinned back.

"Well… I've got to get to class. Be seeing you, then. Hasta la vistar! "

"Ha-ha! Hasta la… vistar…"

"You—you really don't have to do the pose. We can… we can just forget about that," Penny cringed as she watched Julina hesitate to do the star pose.

"Fair 'nuff!"

Penny turned to run back up the stairs. But she only made it a few steps before turning around.

"Oh! And one more thing…" She paused again. "You remember that friend that you told me about? The one who you said got bullied a lot too?"

Juliana's face drifted somewhere between a smile and a frown.

"…I do."

"Ummm, if it's alright to ask… she was the one you were thinkin' about that night, wasn't she?"

"…"

Director Clavell had cleared his throat to get the group's attention again once everyone had a good laugh over his… regrettable disguise.

He announced that it was time to get down to the real matter: that of his decision on what to do with Team Star and the Academy's order those who refused to disband from the group would face explusion.

"It's time we put an end to this…" Clavell said gravely.

Giacomo gulped. "Here it comes…"

Eri and Mela exchanged worried glances with each other, as Atticus tried to console a fidgeting Ortega.

Penny closed her eyes, and became resigned to her fate. She was already thinking ahead: that she would be kicked out of the Academy forever now. That she would never see any of her friends again. That her family was going to be so disappointed in her.

"WAIT!"

Everyone sharply turned to Juliana, who blurted out of nowhere.

"Please, Director… can I say something?"

"You wish to… speak, Miss Juliana?" asked a confused Clavell. "…Very well. Go ahead."

"Okay. Because I just want to say, please… please don't punish them!" Juliana insisted.

Director Clavell was very stunned.

"Just don't do it. They're just victims of bullying. They didn't do anything wrong. Yeah. They lashed out at everyone. And stopped showing up to school. But so what? They were only doing what came naturally to them! After hearing everything they said…"

Juliana's voice began to croak.

"It's just… it's just what they do. When people were attacking them, and—and all the adults were just doing nothing about it… Because Penny, you were right! It was messed up what those teachers did! They should've seen what was going on and put a stop to it before you all had to do it yourselves! Instead they ran away… like cowards."

"…Maybe, maybe they only did it because they blamed themselves…" Penny suggested.

"Maybe. But… it's just—it's so unfair!" Juliana's eyes were squinching now, as if she was trying to stop tears from happening. "To go through so much bullying in your life… And then all the adults just think you're a rowdy kid instead of a victim… Making you feel all alone in the world…"

The Team Star bosses all looked at each other rather uncomfortably, feeling a sense that Juliana was pulling all of this from somewhere deep within.

"You shouldn't be alone. You shouldn't. And not everyone gets to have someone like—like…"

Juliana had to stop herself, because she realized at that moment that none of them would know what she meant by saying Ogerpon.

"You guys, Team Star… you all have each other. You found something in common, and you turned your hardships into—into friendship. You all became each other's greatest treasure. That's so wonderful. And—and you guys deserve to keep that friendship!"

She turned sternly now to Director Clavell.

"And… and I don't care what the Academy has to say about that! If you're going to go against Team Star just because they had to take matters into their own hands against a world that hates them… then I'm going to keep on supporting them too! And—and you can punish me too if you like!"

Everyone was rendered speechless. Juliana, the soft-spoken girl everyone at the Academy knew, had just wrung out a speech that hit an emotional crater and tugged on all of their heartstrings.

Mela turned to Giacomo, who was hiding his face.

"Awww. Are you cryin'?"

"Of course I'm not crying! I just—I just have something in my eye! It's my allergies actin' up!"

"Miss Juliana…" Clavell uttered.

He didn't say anything for a few seconds. But then, much to Juliana's surprise… he began to clap.

"Champion for only a day… and you're already setting a wonderful example. Standing up for your fellow students. Brining them together in solidarity. And willing to take a bullet for them. Those are the true makings of a Champion lighting the way for Paldea. Well done, Miss."

"Ummm… thank you?" Juliana replied, a bit confused.

"Your compassion for others is unbound. Your words were very moving, and I could tell you delivered that whole speech from your heart. Though… I'm embarrassed to say, rather unnecessarily so."

"Huh?"

"Because you see, what I was about to say to Team Star is that…" He gracefully bowed. "They all have my sincerest apologies."

The members of Team Star all reacted in shock.

"…Come again?" said Penny.

"As director of the academy, I let you down. My handling of your situation was a dismal failure..." Clavell explained regrettably. "And… you're correct, Miss Juliana. The whole of our faculty, past and present, bears fault in everything that transpired. There may never be a way to fully make up for the faculty's mistakes."

Juliana didn't say anything, but she was… touched to know that she had resonated this much with the Director.

"Ever since my first days as director, all I've ever experienced of the academy is an environment blessedly free from bullying. But I now know this peace was built on the backs of your hurt and anger—and, of course, your immense courage in putting things to right. As Miss Juliana said… you shouldn't have had to go through all of that on your own. We have to take our responsibility as adults, to make this a safe and friendly environment for everyone."

Juliana nodded proudly.

"And so, I'll get straight to the conclusion. The academy's order for Team Star to disband and my threat to expel those who did not obey...are hereby revoked!"

Juliana was silent. Penny felt a bit embarrassed now.

"I mean… you don't have to answer if you don't wanna."

Juliana closed her eyes for a second, but then she glumly nodded.

"Yes. Yes, she was. When I said those things about having to lash out against bullies, and having all the adults around you turn their backs on you… That—that all came from her. Those were the things that she said happened to her."

"…I'm sorry to hear all of that," Penny sympathized. "This friend… was she someone you met in Kitakami?"

Juliana nodded with a chuckle. "Yup. She was one of the students from the other school Blueberry Academy, but… Kitakami is her homeland."

"Is she… your greatest treasure?"

Juliana didn't really have an answer for that. In fact, her Treasure Hunt was nearing its end, and she didn't have an answer at all to what her greatest treasure might be. Even on the Champion Assessment Interview when Rika asked her what was most important to her, she was honest and told Rika there were too many things.

But she thought about Team Star, and how they all said their friends were their greatest treasure. And Juliana began to think about her own friends.

Nemona. Arven. Penny now included.

Meowscarada and all the other Pokémon she's met and put on her team.

And of course… Carmine.

And Kieran.

Her dear friends from Kitakami, weighing on her noggin every single day.

"Yeah…" She finally decided. "I think… she, and you… all my friends… I think there is a chance that you're all my greatest treasure."

Penny smirked. "Then maybe… I already repaid my debt to you in advance…" she muttered to herself.

"Huh?"

"…Nothing," Penny shook her head. "That friend of yours, where is she now? Do you guys still keep in touch?"

Juliana sadly shook her head.

"No. We don't. She had to go back to her own school, and I had to come back here. We didn't exchange phone numbers or anything like that. Even though we really should've."

Juliana couldn't explain why, but thinking about Carmine this much again… she felt a mix of emotions. Like happiness and sadness at the same time.

Penny could tell that too.

"Then… I hope she's doing okay now, wherever she is."

"Yeah." Juliana sniffled a bit, but turned to Penny with a sad smile. "I really hope so too."

"Well…. I got nothing else to say, so… see ya."

Juliana chuckled. "See ya around, Penny!"

Penny nodded and went back up the staircase, leaving Juliana alone to commiserate.

She looked out into the Paldean sun again.

"When you're alone and don't have anyone else…" she said quietly to herself.

She kept gazing out into the sky, thoughtfully. Determined to do something. She could see a little glimmer in the distance… sparkles from the small pond in the town park. Like a glimmering ocean. Somebody at the park was playing with their Fidough.

A smile crept along her face, and the wind blew through Juliana's hair, giving her a look of determination.

"I know where I'm heading next."

Carmine sat all crumpled up in her bed. Her blankets pulled up against her legs. Alone with nobody but her own sad thoughts.

She sighed.

There was a knock on her door.

"…That you, Lacey? You can come in."

The door opened.

"I think I'm ready for that sleepover, Lace. Let's go."

"…Who's Lacey?"

"Huh?"

That voice felt familiar. Carmine looked up… and she swore her eyes almost flew right out of her skull when she saw who was at the door.

"Hey…" the Paldean girl giggled.

"J-J-Juliana!?"

"So you do remember me!" Juliana replied cheerfully. "It's been so long!"

Carmine scrambled upright.

"What th—Is that really you!?"

Juliana looked around confused. "Who… else would I be?"

"Bu—B—Wh—What on earth are you doing here!?" Carmine's entire mind was racing. Juliana was… here! At her school! But how!?

"Hee-hee! Surpriiiiise! I asked for a transfer!" Juliana answered, not losing her cheery demeanor.

"A transfer? You mean, you mean—"

"That's right!" Juliana clapped her hands together and smiled. "I'm a Blueberry student now! So from now on, I'll be going to school with YOU!"

"Well, that—that's great! That's wonderful! I always, I always thought you'd fit in here! But… why?" Carmine rackled through her hair, still very confused and in shock. "Why did you decide to switch to Blueberry all of a sudden?"

Juliana just giggled in response and held a finger to her mouth.

"Is it really not obvious?"

Carmine just furrowed her eyebrows in response.

Juliana dropped her smile all of a sudden, and looked a bit… sullen.

"…I missed you, Carmine."

Carmine swallowed. "You what?"

"I—I missed you a lot. That's why. I went to all to this trouble… just so I could see you again."

She began to pace around Carmine's room.

"Every day I couldn't see your shining face, I just—it was killing me. My heart was hurting without you. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't eat. I couldn't even breathe."

Carmine's mouth was agape. "I… I don't know what to say."

Juliana started to grin again. "You don't have to say anything, Carmine. I found you again. And now we're together again. That's all that matters."

"I, I guess it is." Carmine didn't know why she was feeling weirdly okay with all this.

"Good. I'm so glad to hear that. Because now that I've found you again…" Juliana sharply turned around and... closed the room to her door. And locked it. "Let's celebrate."

Carmine was feeling weirdly unnerved now. "Celebrate… how?"

"Oh. You know. Let's just… have some fun."

She walked over to Carmine's blinds and pulled them down, shrouding them both from the outside world, after which Juliana fluttered her eyebrows at her. Carmine was looking even more pensive.

"Umm, okay? What did—what did you have in mind?"

Then Juliana started doing something… weird. She started rubbing Carmine's bedside with her hands. Slowly, almost… sensually.

"Please forgive me, Carmine. But I just—I can't take it anymore. Every passing second without your longing embrace, I just—I want to die, Carmine."

Slowly, like a bug… she hunched herself over the frame—the bedframe?

Hang on, my bed in my dorm room doesn't have a frame. Is this… wait, this is my bed from home… How did it get here? How did I get in it?

…until Juliana had found her way on top of Carmine's plaid red comforter from her childhood home, crawling towards the Kitakami girl on all fours like a Poochyena, with a sultry look on her face.

"Every second that I'm not with you… Every breath I'm not sharing with you…"

Carmine was getting seriously freaked out now, and started gripping her bedsheets tightly, backing all the way against the wall.

"Juliana, what's—what's going on? What are you doing?"

She couldn't back up any further as she found Juliana slowly leaning over her. A bizarre, almost feral look in her eyes. Juliana grabbed at the band holding together her Kitakami-style ponytail and pulled it off, letting her long, beautiful brunette hair roam free.

"That's much better. Don't you agree? Aren't I much prettier this way?"

"I, I… What's happening right now?" Carmine said, feeling mostly frightened now. She was breathing heavily, and gasped as Juliana reached her hand towards Carmine's face. "What, what are you doing?"

"I'm sorry, it's just… you're so sweaty, Carmine," said Juliana with a worried face, lightly touching her cheek. She used her finger to lift Carmine's chin up.

"I'm…?"

"Are you feeling hot? We can't have that. Can we? Let me help you with this."

"Wh—STOP! HEY! Wh—what are you doing!?"

Much to her incredulous surprise, Juliana brought her hands down and started unbuttoning Carmine's academy top! Carmine could only look on completely befuddled, but weirdly not outraged, as the girl undid each button, one by one, and eventually forced the whole thing right off of her, leaving Carmine in her sweat-drenched black undershirt.

"Hee-hee! Much better. Hello, girls."

Juliana tossed Carmine's top to the floor.

"Juliana, you're—you're crazy!" Carmine sputtered, completely aghast. "You're being completely wild right now and—and you're scaring me!"

"Am I, Carmine? Am I really? I don't think I am…"

Why is she saying these things, what do they mean? Why did she just undress me!? Why can't I escape? Why—why does it feel like I don't even want to? Why is this even happening right now!?

"Because you want this, that's why."

"…Huh!?"

"Isn't this… what you want?" Juliana said quietly and breathlessly. "Deep inside of you, isn't this what you crave? You and me… your little wild city girl?"

Carmine breathed even harder as Juliana laid her hands down flat on the sheet, towering over Carmine now, and her face drew in even closer. Carmine felt like her heart was beating so hard it was about to rip right out of her chest.

"Now here I am, and I'm all yours," she whispered sensually into Carmine's ear.

She licked her extremely wet lips, making Carmine's heart flutter.

"Kiss me, Carmine… Kiss me, and I'll all be yours. Forever and ever."

Against all of her instincts, Carmine felt herself leaning in towards Juliana's wanting lips. Her eyes began to close. She puckered her lips. Wanting to just melt into this moment…

And then.

"GUHH!"

Carmine jolted awake from her side of the bed in a complete frenzy.

"What was THAT!?"

Ogerpon jostled awake from Carmine's yells after being asleep inbetween her and Lacey.

Carmine was sweating buckets through her pajamas, and she was breathing hard. She tried to focus on all the bright string lights glimmering in Lacey's room, desperately seeking a grip on reality.

"Why did I just dream about Juliana like that!? Why was I about to kiss her!? Wh—WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME?!"

Lacey was startled awake by Carmine's shouting and within milliseconds was in frantic mom mode.

"Carmine! Carmine, it's me!" she grabbed her friend's arm. "What happened!? Did you have a nightmare?"

Carmine's eyes were darting around like ping-pong balls. She couldn't stop breathing heavy. She was shaking and trembling. She looked down at her own hands, which were hot as the sun, with a face of abject horror.

"N-no… Something, far, far worse…"

Chapter Text

"We're gonna play with your favorite ball as much as you want… Y'know? Just like we used to."

Arven knelt down to his ill partner, as Mabosstiff finished the last bite of Arven's last herb-packed sandwich, and sat there watching. Hoping. Praying. For a change.

"Please… get better…" he choked. "That's all I want, really…"

Juliana watched all of this with her hands clasped tightly in front of her face. She could feel a tear sliding down her cheek.

"Agia…" Even Miraidon seemed antsy about Mabosstiff's health now, as it let out a sad, anxious-sounding cry.

Arven was very patient. He sat there with his canine friend for several long minutes, waiting for any sign of a change.

Eventually… Mabosstiff's paws began to twitch. Arven watched with bated breath as it tried to stand up on its paws again.

But then, like many times before, it flopped back down, and let out a gruff, tired "Ruff, ruff…"

Juliana gasped louder than she meant to. Arven looked over, saw how wet her eyes were, and gave her a sad, sympathetic smile. He started rubbing Mabosstiff's head.

"Mabosstiff… You did your best, bud…"

Arven turned his face away. Then, slowly, he stood up and faced away from everyone. Juliana was almost positive he was trying to keep himself from crying.

"Arven…" she sniffled. "I'm so sorry."

Arven crossed his arms. Without turning around, he replied, "It's okay Jules. You did your best too. … We both did."

Juliana sat on the rock and heard Arven sniffle a couple of times. She started sniffling as well, knowing it was only a matter of time before the waterworks started.

Miraidon crawled over to try to comfort her, stretching out its long neck up to her face and giving a gentle cry. Juliana stroke its metallic head in appreciation.

"Thanks, Miraidon. You worked really hard for this too. I know," she acknowledged. "Such a long time scouring this lake… We battled so many Tatsugiri looking for the one they said was special…"

Arven turned around slightly. "You really put in your all, huh? Just for me and Mabosstiff? That's comforting to know, at least. How long did it take you to find the actual Titan?"

"I was at this lake all day and all night doing it."

This time, Arven turned sharply all the way around, looking surprised.

"What—what do you mean all night?"

Juliana hunched in, looking a little embarrassed.

"Just… what it sounds like? I've been here since yesterday afternoon."

Arven's jaw dropped. He walked over to Juliana and put his hands on his hips, looking concerned.

"I… I didn't ask you do that."

"I know…" Juliana mumbled. "But I wanted to…"

"You should've called me. We could've knocked this whole thing out together and probably found the Titan—err, Titans I guess—in a matter of hours. Maybe not even that."

"I know," Juliana responded like she was being scolded by her mom. "I just… I didn't want you to be alone anymore, Arven."

Arven reacted in surprise.

Juliana thought back to the day before, her conversation with Penny, remembering Carmine's struggles, and how that all brought her back to Arven… and wanting to fix his situation as soon as possible.

"Nobody deserves to be alone."

Arven looked touched, and like he didn't really know how to respond to that. He looked at his Mabosstiff deeply, gave it a loving pat on the head, and went to sit on the rock next to Juliana.

"Hey… I'm not alone, y'know."

Juliana looked up with glossy eyes. "Hmm?"

Arven put his arm around her shoulder.

"I've got my little buddy with me."

Juliana couldn't help but smile. Arven smiled back too, but was startled as he felt Miraidon's pushy snout from behind him.

He huffed. "Fine. I guess I have you too," he admitted. "I haven't exactly been able to get rid of you, have I?"

Miraidon gave a response that sounded almost like a jolly laugh. Juliana stifled a giggle.

Arven turned back to her. "Everything you've done to help me this far… I appreciate it more than you could ever know. Until you came along, I—I thought all of this was hopeless. And besides, that doesn't mean I'm giving up!" he said with a determined smile. "Mabosstiff is doing better now than he was before, and that's still all because of you, Jules."

Juliana wiped her teary eyes, grinning as Arven's compliment made her feel all fuzzy.

"I'm still going to find a way to make Mabosstiff all better. There's gotta be something out there that'll help better than those Herbs. And if I do find something, and I know I'll need a little help making it work… you know I'll be calling you straight away."

Juliana sniffled happily. "And you know I'll be there."

Arven grinned back.

"Ruff!" he heard Mabosstiff bark loudly.

"Heh! We can play ball in a minute, bud." …Then his eyebrows jumped up. "Wait a minute! Was that…!?"

He and Juliana's gaze darted over.

"Ruff! … Woof!"

Mabosstiff… picked himself up fully from the ground, having noticed a Poké Ball drop from the picnic table.

Juliana gasped.

Throwing his head up, Mabosstiff walked to the Poké Ball, picked it up in his mouth, and eagerly walked over to Arven and bumped against his leg.

He was confidently walking on all four legs and his tail was wagging hard.

Arven's mouth was agape. "Bud!"

The boy started running over, but in his emotive state he dropped to his knees and crawled to his miraculously healed partner.

"Ru-ruff!" Mabosstiff barked happily at his owner and spit out the Poké Ball into his hand.

Arven's eyelids twitched as felt the tears coming on.

"I know, bud! Me too!" he exclaimed.

Juliana cupped her mouth with her hands as she started crying too. Miraidon still sat next to her, and she gave the Pokémon a gentle rub as it acknowledged her and cried softly.

Then Arven made a "c'mere" gesture with his hand.

"Huh?"

"Come on, Juliana," Arven said as he lightly sobbed. "You helped too. Come say hello to the new and improved Mabosstiff with me."

Juliana tepidly crawled to Mabosstiff on her knees. Mabosstiff leaned over to give her a curious sniff, and then gave her a happy bark.

"Ha-ha. Even though he wasn't feeling well the whole time, he's still gotten to know you quite well!"

"Awwww!"

Juliana smiled, and gave Mabosstiff a bug hug along with Arven.

And Mabosstiff barked contently, glad to have two good friends embracing it in its newfound health once more.

The only thing that broke this blissful silence was Juliana's Rotom Phone ringing.

"Gurrah?" her Miraidon sounded, seeming to sense who was probably on the other end.

Sure enough, Juliana snuck a peek at the caller ID and saw Professor Turo's name. She shrugged her shoulders and ignored it.

"You're not going to answer that?" asked Arven.

"Nah, it can wait a minute."

Wanting not to come down from this moment for a little while longer, Juliana buried her head in Mabosstiff's side and let his cozy dark fur dry away her tears.

"Grumble…"

Carmine's head was buried too. Her black-and-red locks pooled over the pages of What Smoochum Taught Me: How We Synchronize with Our Pokémon Partners.

"Carmine…" Amarys said, trying not to convey her annoyance. "I understand you're in a turbulent state currently, but this is not an ideal way to study for your exam."

The two of them sat at a desk in the back of one of Blueberry's library study rooms. As her friend's Pokémon Sociology II tutor, Amarys sat next to Carmine with her own copy of the textbook open.

"I should be allowed to take a leave of absence from classes and exams. On account of emotional damage," Carmine whined, tilting her head up just half. "My brain's like a fried egg. Too much of a gooey mess to memorize the six key tenants of building the perfect bond with your Pokémon or whatever crap." She dove back in and muttered, "Like I need help understanding what my Sinistcha is feeling…"

Amarys, understanding that today's tutoring session was likely out to the bins, calmly closed her book and studied her friend's state.

"Are you… feeling upset because Drayton and Kieran's match is today?"

Carmine's head turned up again, this time looking a little gruff.

"I was trying my hardest not to think about that, yes."

Amarys sighed. "You're not, still blaming yourself for Lacey's loss, are you?"

"…"

It made perfect sense in Carmine's head. Letting herself become a hot mess around her friend the day before a decisive Elite Four match probably lost Lacey valuable amounts of team preparation time, she figured.

Not to mention how much being woken up by Carmine's panic attack in the middle of the night probably left her tired in the pivotal match-up.

"Lacey put her full potential into that battle, and so did your brother by all appearances," Amarys tried to assure her. "Nothing about the result of that match bears any weight on you."

Carmine just sighed, and her head sunk back into the pages.

"…I've failed to read the room again, haven't I?" Amarys said quietly. "My apologies. I was only trying to make you feel better."

"Not your fault, Mar-y," Carmine shook the back of her head. "I just… want to think about literally anything else right now."

"Understood."

Amarys's eyes looked sideways for a minute, as she tried to think of another topic. She sat upright as she decided to converse with what came to her next.

"So Lacey has informed me that you might have feelings for someone."

Carmine sharply lifted her face up from the book, and it was redder than a Magmortar.

"Anything else but THAT!" she seethed loudly, which earned her a shush from the librarian on the other side of the room.

"Oh…" Amarys looked down in shame. "I've done it again."

"Amarys!"

Lacey strutted her way into the room and started scolding Amarys in a low voice.

"I told you that in confidence! You just can't blab it out like that. That's not right!" And she made an X with her arms again.

"…I thought it was one of those 'sisterhood' things you've mentioned before," Amarys admitted. "My apologies. Again."

"Listen, I don't have a crush on anybody, okay? Especially not Juliana!" Carmine firmly stated. "She's just a girl I befriended while I was back home. That's all."

Lacey and Amarys looked at each other, and Lacey decided to take the empty seat next to Carmine. She put both arms on the table as she leaned her head and talked to Carmine.

"I'm not going to argue with you about whether you're in love, because only you know what your heart wants. But… you know that if you are, that there isn't any shame in that, right? It's totally natural!" She giggled. "Although… I don't know that I've ever had that kind of dream about any of the boys I've liked before! Not even Christoph, and you know I used to have a poster of him!"

"Yeah, but you've also said you think you might be asexual, so it's probably different for you," Carmine argued. "Besides, that… dream—" She shuddered again at the thought of it. "—had nothing to do with Juliana. It's those things that poisoned my brain!"

She pointed at the large satchel filled with sapphic romance novels and yuri manga volumes from Carmine's personal trove.

Amarys, glancing at the satchel, asked, "Do you really want to bestow these romantic tomes of yours to me? You don't believe you'll ever be inclined to read any of them again?"

"Uh-uh!" Carmine crossed her hands together like Lacey, which made her giggle. "Never again! I don't ever want to have another weird dream about one of my girlfriends like that again."

"Very well." Amarys grabbed the satchel and pulled it closer to her as she gazed upon the various literature.

"Well you know… even if you don't have a crush on her, it seems to me like you still really miss this Juliana girl," Lacey reasoned.

"…"

Carmine wanted to argue, but deep down she felt she couldn't.

"Remember how you told me that it feels like a part of you never came back from Kitakami?" Lacey asked. Carmine snarled her lip. "And that you've been crying a lot?"

"I didn't say I was doing it a lot," Carmine mumbled.

"Maybe, a piece of your heart is still with Juliana. Maybe that's why you feel so incomplete. Where is she from anyway? I'm guessing you haven't been keeping in touch with her."

Carmine shook her head. "She's from the Paldea region. And… no. I've actually been kicking myself for never getting her phone number. It would've been nice to catch up and hear her voice from time to time…" She slumped her head over her arms on the desk. "It might've cheered up Ogerpon too. She really loved Juliana."

"Hmm." Lacey sighed. "I remember you said something about Ogerpon not being happy. What's been going on there, if you don't mind my asking?"

"I dunno," Carmine shrugged. "It's just… You know I haven't been battling in anything serious like the BB League. Ogerpon's got so much pent-up energy that she needs to let loose, and I think maybe she's getting frustrated because of that. These tight school walls must be such a shift from spending so long on a wide open mountain."

"What about the Terrarium?"

"Oh, she likes the Terrarium. Especially the Canyon Biome. I think it reminds Ogerpon of home, kinda like how it does for me and Kiki. But… You know I can't just hang around the Terrarium all day long. I guess I'm just… so unmotivated right now. Maybe you're right. Maybe that's the piece of me that went with Juliana…"

"Hmmm…" Lacey crossed her own arms on the desk as she contemplated. Her face lit up as she had an idea. "What about writing her a letter?"

Carmine looked at her inquisitively. "A letter?"

"Yeah! Like the ones you wrote to us while you were in Kitakami!" Lacey encouraged. "It was a great way to keep in touch! Maybe writing your friend in Paldea will help rebuild that part of you you're missing, and give you the confidence you need to be a great Trainer for Ogerpon! Don't you agree, Amarys? …Amarys?"

Amarys had taken a perusal through Carmine's bag of books and was now flipping the pages of a graphic novel entitled "Love Knows No Boundaries".

"I'm trying to understand the romantic angle of this particular fable," she mused out loud. "There are plenty of scenes here with a young woman and a Gardevoir partaking in activities together, but no sign yet of a second human lead for the protagonist to pursue. It almost gives the impression that—"

"I—I'll just hold onto that one!" Carmine snapped as she swiped that book from Amarys's hands with a reddened face.

"Oh my!" Lacey giggled.

"I should've—looked through those more thoroughly," Carmine said as she sheepishly held the comic close to her chest. "I—I think I'll give that suggestion of yours some thought, Lace."

And she rushed out of the study room in her embarrassment, making Lacey giggle more and even Amarys cracked a smile.

"Well, that worked out well," Lacey noted, just as her Rotom Phone started ringing, followed by Amarys's.

"Ahh. Impeccable timing," Amarys said, looking at her phone and then her silver pocket watch. "It's time for the match."

"Yeah. Let's go find Crispin…" Lacey said with a tone of uncertainty.

"Should we fetch Carmine as well?"

Lacey shook her head glumly. "She decided not to come…"

Carmine had agonized over whether she wanted to support her brother's match against Drayton. Ordinarily, the person she's supported her whole life versus, well… the "Drayster" as he liked to call himself, would be a no-brainer.

But… Her heart felt too torn to commit. If Kieran won, she couldn't even promise she would be happy for him because of all her grim thoughts. But if he lost, and she couldn't show her support for him upfront… it would probably damage their siblinghood forever.

So she needed something else to distract her and put her mind in a better place for whatever outcome was about to happen.

Perhaps this was the cure she was seeking.

Carmine pulled out a sheet of paper, a pencil, and a piece of Blueberry Academy stationery.

"Dear Juliana…"

She hemmed and hawed on what to write next.

Ogerpon was sitting on her bed, tossing one of Carmine's mini-pillows into the air with a blank expression. Thoughtfully, Carmine leaned on the back of her chair to face the small ogre.

"Hey Ogerpon…"

"Pon?" Ogerpon looked up at her.

"You remember Juliana, right?"

Ogerpon smiled happily. "Po-ponyo-pon!"

Carmine giggled. "If you had the chance to talk to her again, what would you want to tell her about?"

Ogerpon jumped to its legs and started miming a bunch of actions on Carmine's bed, like running in place, all the different moves she'd learned, and imitating some of the model poses Carmine had taught her.

Carmine laughed at the little show, and felt a bit more confident now.

"Thanks Ogerpon! You've given me a lot to work with."

Much more eagerly now, she started putting pencil to paper.

"Dear Juliana,

I've been thinking about you lately, and wanted to write this letter to ask how you're doing. Are you having a lot of adventures in Paldea? How's your Gym Challenge going?

I've been up to a lot of crazy stuff here at Blueberry since we last saw each other! Just wait until I tell you all the things Ogerpon can do now!

…"

Meanwhile, Juliana and Arven had just finished a friendly match outside the Professor's secret lab to test their resolve, and stood in front of the Poco Path Lighthouse as they thought over the strange mission Professor Turo had just given them inside.

"Area Zero… I haven't been down there in so many years," Arven stated.

"Ruff?" His Mabosstiff barked curiously.

"That's where Mabosstiff got hurt, y'know!" he said, shaking his fists.

Juliana giggled for some reason seeing him do that motion, which confused him.

"Uhh—sorry. I don't… know why that made me laugh."

Arven sighed resentfully.

"So what is then, Juliana? Are you planning to go down there?"

"Well…" Juliana considered it for a bit, and then hesitantly nodded. "I think… I think I owe it to the Professor for all the guidance he's been giving me along the way, and—to Miraidon as well. Besides, it—sounds like it could be a lot of fun! Right?"

Arven scoffed.

"Fun's one word for it. Incredibly dangerous is another. But…" He sighed again. "I suppose he did ask. I might have a lot of issues with my dad-namely the whole not being around stuff—but I also know how important his research is to him. And—and I can't just stand by and watch while a friend heads off into danger on her own."

So he turned around and gave Juliana a thumbs up.

"So I'll be going along too!"

Juliana's face lit up.

"Really?"

"Yeah! You may owe it to the Professor, but I owe my pal for helping me out! So who would I be if I refused to help in return?" Arven rolled up his sleeves. "Besides… I'd like to give dad a piece of my mind."

Juliana gulped. Having Professor Turo on her mind directly made her think about her guilt, and she started to look fearful.

"…Hey, Arven?"

"Yeah?"

She anxiously twiddled her thumbs. "You're not… upset with me for not telling you that I was getting calls from your dad the whole time, are you?"

Arven looked surprised. Juliana couldn't bring herself to look up at him, so he assuredly put his arms on her shoulders.

"'Course I'm not mad about that, silly! To me, he's my neglectful dad. But to you, he's one of the most esteemed Professors in the region! Why wouldn't you jump at the chance when he's calling for you?"

He let go and crossed his arms sternly.

"Besides, what do I care? No sooner was I able to finally pawn that brute off on somebody else after years and years of looking after it, that he starts checking up constantly on you instead. Same ol' dad, same ol' story if you ask me! I'm just bitter that's the first time in what must be years I've even heard his voice!"

Juliana frowned sympathetically.

But Arven shrugged. "Whatever. It's no big deal. I'll tell you this, though. Much as I hate to admit it... I do think we're gonna need some more support."

"Support?"

"Yeah. The Pokémon in Area Zero are super strong, and there are all sorts of weird machines there, too. So finding more allies would be super-helpful."

"Who do you have in mind?"

"Well, we'd definitely need someone else who's really a really strong battler and could probably hold their own against all those tough Pokémon."

Juliana thought about who she knew that was super strong. It came to her almost immediately.

"I know! We could ask Nemona to come with us!"

Arven's face twisted a bit. "The student council president? Seriously?"

"What's your problem with Nemona anyway?" Juliana's eyebrows furrowed. "She's super nice to everyone!"

"Tch. She was awfully naggy towards me when we met."

"Well yeah, because you don't attend class."

Arven cracked a smile. "Ouch! Touche, little buddy. But… you're right. I know she cares about what's best for everyone—not that I'll never let her know that… But that girl can take on any Pokémon that comes at her. She's a beast!"

"Yeah she is! And the two of us are basically on the same level now! So with our forces combined, we'd be unstoppable!" Juliana boasted.

"Did you… actually make Champion Rank, Jules?" Juliana nodded proudly. "Wow! Congrats, bud! I always knew you had it in ya! Then yeah, I would definitely feel a lot better with you two teaming up! But all that machinery… You don't happen to also know somebody super tech-savvy who can deal with all that crazy tech, do you?"

Juliana racked her brain again, and once again quickly arrived at an answer.

"Duh, yeah! Of course! Penny!"

"Penny? Why does that name sound familiar?" Arven searched his own memory banks. "Wait… that crazy-smart hacker girl who was the big boss behind Team Star? That Penny!?"

Juliana nodded. Arven was a little taken aback.

"I mean, yeah, she'd be perfect for the job... But when did you go making friends with some shady character like her!?"

"Hey, Penny's not shady!" Juliana said adamantly. "She's just misunderstood. So are all the Team Star bosses everyone calls delinquents! She's even doing work for the Pokémon League right now, y'know!"

"Wow. Alright! Okay, I concede," Arven said with his hands out. "Sounds like you know her a lot better than I do."

"Yeah. She's very shy, but… really chill once you get to know her. And she did tell me I can rely on her any time I need a favor so, guess it's time to cash that in."

"Huh! Well, seems like you've been busy making some pretty useful friends! I really did strike gold nabbing you for my little hunt!" Arven beamed, tussling Juliana's head.

"Awww, thanks, Arven."

"Alright, let's make a plan then. It's starting to get late today, and I don't know what those two's schedules look like, so we should definitely—" He looked off in the distance past Juliana. "Huh? Who's that?"

"Huh?"

Juliana turned around to see a woman running down the road from Cabo Paco, waving and calling her name.

"Juliana! Over here!"

"Is that—your mom?"

"Oh—it is!" Juliana marched towards her excitedly. "Mom! Hi!"

Juliana's mom hustled up the road from the direction of Cabo Paco, and was a little short for breath by the time she caught up to them.

"Hi, sweet pea! Isn't this funny!" Unlike Juliana, she spoke in a light Galarian accent. "I was on my way back from the post office and was just about to call you, but then I swore I heard your voice and what sounded like a battle going on!"

Juliana laughed. "What are the odds, right?"

"And who's this?"

"Oh! This is one of my best friends, Arven."

Best friend? Arven looked a little stunned to be called that, but Juliana smiled at him in return.

He went up and… awkwardly shook her mom's hand.

"Heh! That's right! Best pals, me and her! How do you do, Miss…?"

"Oh, just call me Hazel, sweetie!" she laughed.

Hazel was a beautiful woman with eyes matching her name and the same brunette hair color as her daughter. She wore hers in a ponytail with light bangs, and was dressed in a modest outfit for home, minus the yellow apron Juliana often sees her with.

Arven's Mabosstiff came up to Hazel looking for pets, and she happily obliged.

"What an adorable big boy! And you're… Arven?" She looked contemplative for a second. "…Oh! Wait! I know! You're Professors Sada and Turo's son, aren't you?"

Arven looked at her in surprise. "Y-yeah! You… you knew my mom?"

"Oh, I never met her, no," she chuckled sheepishly. "It's only because I used to read your mother's column back when the two of them were working together."

"…Oh," Arven responded, sounding a bit disappointed.

"I'm sorry if I hit a sore point," Hazel apologized.

Arven wanted to sneer, but instead he found himself chuckling at how much he recognized traits of Juliana's personality in her mom's.

"Oh no, it's okay, ma'am. It's just… rare that people know both of my parents' names, since only my dad ever got his papers published. …That's all." I didn't even know my mother had a column…

"Are you two busy having an adventure right now? Because if not, I'd love to have you over for a cuppa at some point."

"A… cuppa?"

"A cup of tea," Juliana whispered to him with a giggle.

"Well, umm! Yeah, umm—Y'know, a cuppa sounds great and all, it's just—you know, we…"

Juliana was a little surprised. She'd never seen Arven this anxious before.

He's not used to meeting people's parents, is he?

Hazel couldn't help but chuckle a little.

"You can say no if you're not interested, dear! It was just an offer!"

"Arven and I are getting ready to meet with some friends to have an adventure," Juliana explained, deciding to step in for him.

"Ooooh, how exciting! Somewhere fun?"

Somewhere illegal…

"Oh yeah, it's—gonna be a lot of fun!" Juliana put on her best smile.

"But—definitely another time, I would really love to, ma'am!" said Arven rather excitedly. "In fact yeah, any time that you'll have me, that sounds wonderful!"

Juliana couldn't help but snicker at this new side of Arven she was seeing.

"I should probably get going, though. Hey, Jules?" He turned to Juliana. "Can I trust you to search out Penny and ask her, and meanwhile I'll go find Nemona? I know all the right ways to push her buttons and get her motivated, after all."

"Sure!" Juliana nodded. "Leave Penny to me!"

"Great! And uhh… it was really nice to meet you, ma'am!"

He waved goodbye as he ran off. Mabosstiff gave a goodbye ruff too and followed his loyal Trainer.

"What a nice boy he is. It's so wonderful to see you making so many friends during the best years of your life," said Hazel.

She finally took a good look at her daughter, and her eyebrows furrowed hard in that "mother sense" Juliana liked to call it.

"Is… something wrong?" Does she know I left out details?

"Oh, just… checking up on you." She gently rubbed Juliana's face with her fingers, looking a bit concerned. "Are you handling everything okay, darling? Getting lots of sleep?"

"Of course, mom!" Juliana laughed. "Why do you ask?"

"I don't know. You've just got these lines on your face, and you're not standing straight… makes me worry."

"I'm fine, mom! I know how to take care of myself."

"I know you do! But… I also know that you have a tendency to keep on pushing yourself until you've achieved your goals." Hazel giggled. "You really inherited your father's bullheadedness, y'did! Used to have to all but sedate that man to get him to rest for even a second!" she remembered fondly. "Just promise me that you're remembering it's alright to stop and take a breather now and then, okay?"

"Of course I do, mom, I know that," Juliana answered, trying not to sound annoyed. "Ummm, what did you want to see me about?"

"Oh! Of course! Nearly forgot!"

Hazel reached into her handbag and pulled out a laminated envelope.

"This just came in for you at the post office!"

"Who's it from?"

"No return address, just that it was mailed Express Delivery from the Unova region."

"Unova?" Juliana repeated, trying to remember why that sounded meaningful.

"Let's see here…"

Hazel tore open the laminated envelope to find a smaller envelope inside. She recognized the seal on it.

"Oh! From Blueberry Academy!" She read the name printed on it. "Do you know a… Carmine, sweetheart?"

Juliana's eyes lit up and she jumped.

"C-Carmine!? She sent me a letter? Yeah, yeah! I know her from the Kitakami trip!" she excitedly informed her.

"Ohhhhh! Is she the one you said did that hair for you?"

"Well, no, that was her grandmother!" Juliana reminded her, feeling her ponytail still in the Kitakami-style. "But umm, but she's the one who said it looked good on me, so that's—that's why I kept it!"

Juliana's mom gave her a knowing smile for some reason, and handed the envelope to her to open.

Juliana opened up the letter and read it.

As she read on, her expression became brighter, and she smiled harder and harder. By the end of it, she was holding a hand over her heart, bearing a warm grin as her heels lifted off the ground a couple of times.

She didn't see, but her mother was grinning very hard for her too.

"Great news?"

"Not even news, it's just…" Juliana found herself speechless. "She just wrote me a letter to ask how I'm doing. Telling me all about Ogerpon—The Pokémon I told you we met with the masks! And some funny things her friends did…"

She grasped Carmine's letter with both hands, like it was something she wanted to frame and treasure for herself.

"I'm just… I'm so touched that she's still thinking about me," she told her mother. "And it sounds like things are going really well for her if she's so excited about all these things! I'm so happy for her. Thanks, mom. This—this really made my day."

"I'm so glad, honey!" Hazel said graciously. "You know—if this Carmine friend of yours ever comes to visit, she's welcome at our house any time," she said with a smile and a wink, which perplexed her daughter. "Maybe when you have a moment, and I do hope you're going to have a moment soon, you should write her back. Let her know that you're thinking about her too, because…" she giggled a little. "It's pretty clear you are."

Juliana huffed a little. "I'm not in love with her or anything, mom. She's just a friend."

"Of course, honey. Of course."

Her mom still smiled at her in a way that annoyed her for some reason. But she thought about the letter. Thought about Carmine writing it. And tried to imagine what Carmine's face probably looked like while she was composing it.

She imagined Carmine's black-and-red locks, swaying back and forth. The eager smile she wore on her face whenever she was doing something that made her excited like the Ogre Oustin' game or getting back Ogerpon's masks.

Her yellow eyes, which became striking every time she had her little angry bouts that… somehow made her look really adorable and always made Juliana want to giggle.

Did she throw a fit at least once while writing this letter? Juliana noticed a few thick eraser scrubs prevalent on the paper and concluded that must have happened at least once.

Remembering all these things about her faraway friend did make Juliana smile fondly.

Imagine if… imagine if I sent her a letter and she felt the same way.

Her mom was already walking home, apparently having left Juliana to process her thoughts herself. She decided to run up alongside her.

"Hey, mom, wait up! Actually… do we have any envelopes and paper at home?"

It was a weird feeling sitting at her own desk again, in her own bedroom. Juliana forgot how brightly the sun often shone through the window, the way it seemed to cast an almost heavenly light over her desk.

She had paper out in front of her, where she had already written "Dear Carmine," and an introductory line thanking her for her letter.

She thought about what she wanted to write back.

Carmine's intent with writing seemed to be to try to share some of her experiences at Blueberry Academy with her overseas pen pal. So Juliana figured the logical choice was to do the same thing back and tell Carmine about her adventures in Paldea.

So she wrote to Carmine about the things she'd accomplished, all the adventures she went on. She described her friends Arven, Nemona, and Penny and what they were all like.

Then, for whatever reason, she felt the most excited telling Carmine about the mission she and her friends were about to go on for Professor Turo, down in the depths of the Great Crater of Paldea.

"Imagine if you were here and we went to Area Zero together, Carmine. You're a really strong Trainer and you seemed to really know your way around technology! You'd fit in just fine with our expedition. I don't know what's down there, but I'm really, really excited to find out!"

…

"How's Kieran doing, by the way?"

"You didn't talk about him in your letter. Is he feeling better since everything that happened?"

Carmine stood in the center of the student lounge with the big screen television, her eyes wide and her mouth agape. This reaction echoed in the reactions of the students all around her.

"No way…"

She felt like her own exterior was shattering up around her as she watched the Terastal crystals around Archaludon burst out, and the metal dragon Pokémon took a huge fall.

All seven heads of Kieran's powerful serpent Pokémon raised up and roared in cheer.

"I did it…" Kieran could be heard mouthing on the video feed in as much surprise as everyone else.

…

"He did it."

Chapter Text

“Huh... what do ya know,” said Nemona. “It’s snowing…”

Snowflakes flittered in the air and greeted the four Uva students as they walked out of the Zero Gate, now safely on the other side of an adventure they wouldn’t soon be forgetting.

“It’s a little early in the season for snow, isn’t it?” Juliana wondered.

“Hmmm, I wonder…” Penny mumbled.

“What’s up, Pen-Pen?” Nemona called out.

“I was just thinking—Don’t call me that, by the way. When we were in one of those research stations, I remember reading some of the scattered papers around and I feel like one of them said that the Professor’s time machine experiment was known to cause weather fluctuations.”

“Whoa!” Nemona pumped her fists. “Are you saying that the robo-professor using that machine to travel into the future might’ve caused it to snow early in the present!? Is this snow from the FUTURE!?” she gushed, now looking at the drops of snow falling with sparkles in her eyes.

“Well… no, I don’t think so,” Penny shook her head at the weird way Nemona’s brain worked. “That would be highly illogical.”

Juliana giggled at her friends. Watching the ways that all three of her friends’ personalities mixed and clashed with each other throughout their fun adventure in the Great Crater, trekking through the lush paradise of Area Zero, and fighting off bizarre robotic Pokémon in the depths, had probably been one of the most fun parts of this whole unique adventure for her.

Where’s Arven, though?

She glanced behind her and saw Arven slowly trodding along behind everyone, his head sagging a little, and his expression somewhere between blank and… mildly troubled.

Nemona and Penny took notice of his disposition too, and they looked on as Juliana approached him.

“Hey Arv…” She gave him a soft, sympathizing smile. “You doing okay… bud?”

Arven lifted his head up slightly to look at her.

“Hmm? Oh. … Yeah. Yeah, no I’m fine. It’s just…”

Arven’s head was still stuck in that room. The deepest room of the Zero Lab. Watching as the Professor—an AI double of the man he’d just learned had passed away—spoke his final words to the Paldean travelers, moments before he was ready to ascend for good.

"Arven. I am sorry that I kept the truth from you for so long. I inherited all the thoughts and wishes of the professor, and so I understand better than any..."

The AI gazed directly at Arven, with a look that—for an android who had only been making blank expressions—almost looked sorrowful.

"Your father truly loved you." His eyes closed. “I truly believe that he, that both of your parents… They had you in their hearts from the beginning of their research.”

Arven’s lip quivered as he looked up at the—the thing that held the image of his father.

“You… you can’t… You can’t just go and say a thing like that now!” he protested.

The AI paused.

“No? I suppose you’re right. I am sorry.” He turned to face everyone now. “Arven. Miraidon. Juliana. It is a little sad, but I’m afraid this is goodbye…”

Arven rustled his head a few times, trying to deny what he wanted to shout out. But his heart was screaming too loud.

“DAD!”

"Farewell, my free adventurers!" the AI saluted. "I bid you adieu!"

Then he rose… and disappeared… into the light of the machine.

The last time Arven would ever see that face.

“I guess he’s gone for real now…” Arven mumbled. “In every way I knew him… I’m never going to see him again. I mean…” Arven let out a sniffle as he wiped his face with his arm. “I guess I knew the whole time, deep down… that something had probably happened to him and that’s why he never reached out to me. He’s been gone most of my life anyway, so…”

Arven clutched his heart, trying to deny this pain that he was feeling.

Juliana sensed the problem and met him head on.

“He’s not gone, you know.”

“What do you mean?”

She pointed at Arven’s heart. “Your dad is always going to be around, right in there.” She took a deep breath. “Just like how… my dad is always going to be in here,” she affirmed, putting a hand over her own heart.

Arven paused. He didn’t know if Juliana had ever told him about her own father. But, being reassured by this commonality they now shared, he allowed himself to smile a little.

“Thanks, Jules.”

Juliana nodded. “And you’re not alone either. Remember? You got your little buddy right here!” she smiled, hoisting up her bag.

Arven laughed.

“That’s riiiiight!” Nemona skipped happily over and glomped Arven from behind, startling the frazzled boy. “You’ve got all your bestest buddies with you now, Arven!”

“Y-yeah,” Penny stuttered.

“And I’ll keep on encouraging you for as long as it takes!”

Then there was a flash of light as Mabosstiff popped out from his Ball and started jumping up and licking his partner in the face.

“Ha-ha-ha! Okay, okay! Down, boy! …And down, girl!” he snarked towards Nemona, who let go of him with an embarrassed smile. “Alright. Thanks, guys, I get it. I’m, blessed to have all of you as my friends. I’ll… try to remember that going forward.”

Juliana grinned with her teeth. Arven smiled back. Then he looked around.

“…Hey, when did it start snowing?”

Nemona was quickly back to grumbling. “Pay attention for once, would you?”

“Brr-kawwwk-ulu! Brr-kawwwk-ulu!”

Juliana’s newfound catch from within the Great Crater had taken to running around and dancing with its feet in what seemed like a sense of euphoria.

“Your new little partner sure seems to like this weather fine!” Arven chuckled. “What was it called? …Iron Bundle?”

“I think I saw it using Ice moves just like a Delibird would,” Nemona recalled. “I wonder if these funky future Pokémon have ever seen snow from all the way down there.”

Juliana knelt down and smiled as Iron Bundle ran up to her. Its head popped out of its metallic red-and-white body like a spring-top and then spun around, as it made happy noises that sounded like a Delibird’s clucks, but with a robotic twang to them.

“I don’t know! There’s probably a lot of things this little guy is gonna see that are new to him!”

“Are you… sure it’s really safe to catch one of those ‘Paradox’ Pokémon and bring it outside the Crater?” Penny asked apprehensively. “I thought the whole idea behind sealing up Area Zero and shutting down that machine was that these things are extremely dangerous.”

“Yeah, but that’s if they all escaped at once and started rampaging around, right?” Nemona reasoned. “I don’t think just one little Pokémon like this can cause a whole lot of trouble.” She huffed out loud. “Dang it, maybe I should’ve caught one too! That one that sorta looked like a Hariyama sure looked super powerful, didn’t it?”

“But—if people see that thing, won’t it raise a lot of questions?”

Juliana’s lip twisted as she thought about it.

“No. No, I don’t think so. It looks similar enough to a Delibird. I think most people who see it will probably just assume it’s another regional form or one of those ‘convergent’ species like Wiglett and Diglett! After all, I didn’t know there was another Pokémon that looked like Sinistea’s twin until I—!” Juliana stopped that sentence short and paused. “…Until I met one in Kitakami.”

Miraidon, who had confidently regained its Battle Form again, grunted to Iron Bundle while it danced in circles. Iron Bundle looked up at Miraidon and playfully spurted it with a blast from its twinkling water cannon.

The iron serpent almost looked annoyed by the act of play, but quickly regained its jolly demeanor while Iron Bundle made a noise that sounded like filtered laughing.

“Besides, it looks like it’s getting along with Miraidon well!” Juliana laughed. “They both look really happy now!”

Arven shook his head while snickering.

“Well, if anyone around here knows how to tame freaky robot Pokémon brought over from the future, I guess it’s you, Jules.”

“Awww, Jules is such a cute name!” Nemona said from behind Arven, startling him again. “I want to start calling you that too!”

“H-hey! Lay off, student council girl! That’s my own special name for my special bud!”

Nemona rolled her eyes and chortled.

“Right, and ‘student council girl’ must be your special name for me! Right, Pepper?”

“I said lay off already! A-and quit calling me that!”

Arven shook a fist towards Nemona, who just laughed it off. Juliana found herself stifling her giggles watching their behavior. Their bickering rather fondly reminded her of how she and Carmine used to interact, where Juliana went from playful flirting to just trying to push the Kitakami girl’s buttons because it was funnier to make her angry.

Penny didn’t share Juliana’s enthusiasm, groaning at what she felt like she had been putting up with through the whole mission.

“I suggest we toss those two back into the Crater and see which one of them ends up killing the other first,” she suggested.

This earned a chuckle from Juliana, at least until she gritted her teeth and had to stop to shake the pain off one of her legs. Penny looked at her in concern.

“…You good?”

“Yeah. Just… so much running around,” said Juliana. “How long were we down there anyway? Felt like almost all night long.”

“I think so, yeah,” Penny chuckled. “This was just like being on one of my dad’s ‘Adven-tours’ only… less dumb and annoying. I’m probably going to crash the moment we get home.”

Arven meanwhile, had decided to shrug Nemona off so he could lock up the tall, blue fence gate leading into the wider Zero Gate with his dad’s keys, making sure the facility was closed off to the public once more.

“Yeah… I might need something to eat very soon,” Juliana agreed. “I don’t even remember when’s the last meal I had.”

“Hold up a second!”

Arven, after making sure the padlock was secure, walked over sternly to them with his hands on his hips.

“When is the last time either of you ate or slept!?”

“Well… I was up all night training my team for the big mission,” Juliana explained. “Just, wanted to make sure they were ready. And we had a picnic!” she proclaimed. “I made sandwiches… I think I ate one of them? I don’t remember.”

Penny hesitated.

“…That’s a good excuse. I’ll be honest, I just binged a whole season of one of my new anime the night before. I keep myself going with energy drinks. Still have some in my bag, in fact.”

“Oh, can I have one of those?” Juliana asked, rubbing her eyes. “I could use the boost.”

“Sure, here you g—”

“Hey, NO! Vay!” Nemona scolded too. “Girls! Neither of you even had any breakfast? I had fresh toast, eggs, and an orange juice yesterday morning! I can’t imagine starting the day right without a proper meal!”

“Uhh, yeah! Never thought I’d agree with Nemona of all people, but she’s right!” Arven nodded. He muttered to himself, “I’m surprised though. You always act like you’re on more caffeine than anyone else…”

“Geez,” said Penny, scratching her head. “You both sound just like my parents now…”

“Well, apparently, somebody has to step in to make sure you’re eating properly!” said Arven. “I’d offer to make everyone sandwiches, if it wasn’t for this snowfall. Let’s see…”

Arven placed his hand over his eyes and looked out into the horizon, seeing past the light mist the snowfall was generating in the air.

“Medali’s just at the bottom of these cliffs, I’m pretty sure. So I’ve got an idea. Let’s all grab a bite to eat at the Treasure Eatery!”

“Hey, that sounds like a great idea!” said Juliana.

“Ehh? Uhh—sure. Okay, I guess,” Penny acquiesced. “As long as it isn’t too crowded…”

“Woo-hoo! I’m in all the way!” Nemona cheered. “And afterwards, we can ask to use their battle arena to have a whole bunch of mega-amazing battles together! We can go 2-on-2, make it a friendly tournament, or we could even do it tag-team style!”

Juliana and Penny both groaned awkwardly, while Arven facepalmed and shook his head.

“It never ends with you, does it…?”

The news rippled throughout Blueberry Academy.

Drayton had been the reigning Champion of the BB Elite Four and class president of the BB League Club for the past two or three years. Considered by many to be the most powerful Trainer in the Club.

And he lost.

In a span of two months, Kieran, an unassuming first year student from Kitakami, went from joining the BB League at its lowest rank… to being crowned its new Champion.

At first, this was a new and exciting change that everyone at Blueberry was talking about, wondering what it would mean for the BB League.

Even Kieran seemed thrilled initially to have come out on top, and he looked real happy on the big TV screen as students clapped and cheered for their new Champion.

…But then it was like his whole demeanor changed overnight. As soon as the very next day, he appeared irritable and impatient, and demanded that everything was going to change BIG time for the BB League. He made promises of no more weaklings ‘ruining’ its reputation, and everyone was going to understand just how serious and demanding being an expert battler truly was.

Uncertainty turned to frustration as members saw the club’s ranking and score systems become a lot more rigid, trial matches spiked up in difficulty, and once-excelling rankers were seeing themselves demoted or kicked out of the club entirely.

The League Club Room saw less casual use as Kieran overcompensated for Drayton’s lax scheduling by assigning more exclusive meetings to be held in the clubroom, limiting its free use by others. A few students just dropped out of the BB League outright, lamenting a club that no longer seemed to be about fun, just… competitiveness for the sake of it.

Within just a couple weeks of Kieran’s new leadership, the atmosphere within Blueberry Academy’s walls had changed.

Carmine was having a difficult time walking through the cafeteria without feeling anxious, like daggers would start shooting at her from any minute.

Every time she made eye contact with another student, it was always either a look of indifference or… a dirty glare.

She was trying to stop the tray of food from shaking in her hands by the time she reached the table. A group of students from the math club sat at one of the long tables, but there was some space in the center so she took an empty seat.

The mathletes’ conversation stopped as they all turned to look at her. Then, quietly, and without even much of a change in expression, they gathered up their trays and looked for somewhere else to eat.

Carmine’s face twisted like she’d eaten a lemon.

“Fine!” she snapped. “Like I wanted to sit next to a bunch of nerds anyway!” She grunted as she started fingering a fry—the plate of Academy Fries being most of what she could afford now on her low BP—and simmered in quiet fury. “What is this whole campus’s problem now anyway?”

She asked that question like she didn’t know. The whole mood had changed around here for the worse, and she knew exactly why.

In fact, just at the table across from her, she could hear a male student simmering to his female friend. He was wearing a League Club Uniform and angrily slammed his BB League pin onto the table. She could only hear vague cries of “How could they do this to me…” and his friend trying her hardest to placate him. No guesses what that was about.

Then the girl briefly locked eyes with her, and mumbled something to her friend. He turned around to face her, which startled Carmine. She gripped her tray, ready to activate her fight or flight instinct. But he just scowled at her and turned around.

Carmine sneered back.

It seems like the harsher Kiki is towards everyone, the angrier they get towards me like they think I’m the one who made him his way…

She closed her eyes shamefully.

But it is… partly my fault, isn’t it? Especially after yesterday…

It’s been sticking out in her mind since the other day.

After mailing her letter off to be sent to Juliana, Carmine decided to swallow her anxiety and show up at her brother’s dorm, with Ogerpon in tow, to congratulate after his victory.

She knocked on the door and was surprised to hear a pleasant “Come in!”

Kieran was sitting at his desk when Carmine opened the door. His eyebrows went up when he saw her face. He didn’t look happy or angry, just… surprised. Like he wasn’t expecting her.

“Oh. Hey, sis.”

Carmine glanced around Kieran’s room, having stepped into it for the first time since they stopped dorming together.  It looked about what you would expect; they had played by the “halfsies” rule when they shared a room together, and Kieran’s room was basically what his half had always looked like, just stretched out into a full room.

His prized giant Furret plushie, that Grandma Yukito had given him for Christmas one year, sat on the bed snaking over his pillows and blanket.

Kieran also had a poster in his room depicting his favorite cartoon The Mighty Hero Palafin! and a bookcase lined with various shonen magna, with some of his action figures displayed on top. His kitchen area was noticeably cleaner than Carmine expected it to be, given how often she was forced to clean it up when they shared one, though there was a stray bag of chips open.

But most interestingly, there was a huge punching bag in the middle of the room, black and yellow, that looked like it was made from very firm material. Chained from a hook in the ceiling. And showing signs of rough use.

Where did he even get the money for that…?

“Hey there, new champ,” she greeted, smiling a little to see him in such a lighter mood. “We both wanted to come and offer our congrats.”

She gestured to Ogerpon, who cautiously but optimistically, stepped into the room. Kieran even smiled a bit watching her step forward.

“Wowzers, umm… thanks. It’s—it’s quite a big accomplishment, isn’t it? I’m honestly still surprised that I won!” he chuckled, scratching his forehead.

Huh. He’s even talking like his old self again.

Carmine started smiling a lot bigger now, relieved to see that this may have finally been the thing to get him out of his funk like she’d hoped.

“It sure is! You’re basically one of the strongest Trainers in the whole school now!” Carmine gushed, feeling a lot more at ease. “I’m so proud of you! And Gram and Gramps are going to be so proud of you too when we tell them! You’ve come such a long way, Kiki.”

“I sure have,” Kieran responded. “I sure have…”

Still smiling, he stood up from his desk and took a big sigh, building himself up for what he was about to say next.

“Pretty cool, right? So… how about it?”

“Hmm? How about wha—hey!”

Strangely, Kieran lightly brushed against his sister as he walked up behind her, and knelt down… so that he could make eye contact with Ogerpon.

“What do ya think?”

“Pon?” Ogerpon responded, a little confused now.

“I know you rejected me back at your den, Ogerpon. And I understand why you did it. I was pretty weak and pathetic back then, wasn’t I? Just letting everyone walk all over me. Totally not a suitable partner for the mighty ogre…”

“Kiki…” Carmine uttered.

He doesn’t really still think that’s the reason…?

“B-but look! I’m a Champion now! And one of the strongest Trainers! Sis just said it herself!” He was smiling at Ogerpon now a bit eccentrically, almost manic-like. “I should be totally worthy of your friendship now, right? I’m a strong enough Trainer that we could win any battle we come up against!”

He held out his hand towards Ogerpon, who stared at it, still not really sure what was going on.

Carmine’s face grew more and more worried. She could also sense what was about to happen next, and was gearing for the blowback.

“Look—”

Kieran abruptly shushed her, making her eyebrows leap up.

“It’s the ogre’s decision. …Remember?”

Ogerpon looked at Kieran’s hand and slowly began to reach her cloaked arm out.

“…Pon?”

Then she took a good look at Kieran’s face… and suddenly, he began to smile much differently than before. It was almost like he was grinning through the edges of his mouth, curving it in a weird shape as his eyes gazed at Ogerpon in a strangely cutting fashion.

Ogerpon gasped in fright.

“Ponnn! Ponoooo-pon…”

Overcome with a strange, sudden terror, the poor ogre girl began whining out in distressed noises neither of them had ever heard before and darted behind Carmine’s legs, shaking like a leaf.

“H-hey, it’s okay, Ogerpon,” she tried to assure the ogre, gently coercing her with her hand. But she was both surprised and frightened by this behavior. “What’s the matter?”

“SERIOUSLY!?”

Kieran shouted, and his mouth dropped agape.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me!” he whined.

Carmine was distressed to see him start needling at his roots again the same way he used to in Kitakami.

“This has gotta be a joke, right? A sick joke! Am I ever going to be good enough for you!?”

“Kiki, calm down!” Carmine pleaded. “Ogerpon isn’t rejecting you at all! You’re—you’re scaring her!”

Kieran just scoffed in response. He suddenly took a sharp gaze at his desk and just stared in that direction for a bit.

Carmine looked over, confused, but she couldn’t see anything noteworthy on the desk besides some homework papers, a handheld gaming system, and a mere Pecha Berry.

“This is unbelievable.”

Kieran unzipped his academy jacket, revealing his red academy undershirt underneath. His whole attitude seeming to have changed again, he gruffly walked over to his punching bag and smacked it hard with his fist.

“Kiki… You didn’t—you didn’t really go through all of this just because you still thought Ogerpon hated you, did you?”

Kieran didn’t reply, but she heard low huffing from him.

“You didn’t—”

She stopped herself from completing the rest of that sentence, at least out loud.

You didn’t do all of this because of me?

She heard quiet yelps from under her.

Carmine picked up Ogerpon and tried to gently rock the small ogre, but she had grown completely inconsolable in a way Carmine had never seen her before. Her eyes were wet with tears, she was clutching her own head like she was in pain, and she was breathing heavily.

“There, there,” she said softly. “It-it’s going to be okay, Ogerpon…”

“Ponnn… ponnn…!”

…

“Figures.”

Carmine sharply turned to Kieran, trying to figure out how this entire situation went so downhill so quickly.

“After everything I’ve done… I still get no respect. You and the ogre, both ignoring me…”

Carmine huffed, completely hurt and flabbergasted, with tears in her eyes.

“Kiki… you’re not being fair!” she cried out. “For crying out loud, I thought you would finally be over all this—”

“SHUT UP!” he snapped back. “Shut up, shut up, shut up! You don’t get to say that, after everything you did, Carmine!”

Now Carmine was breathing frantically. “What, Kiki!? What have I done to hurt you!? You keep blaming me without telling me what it is you think I did!”

“You can’t stand there and act so innocent when it was you… all the time, pushing me down! And taking everything from me! You and—and…”

Kieran was growling in rage now. His heart started beating faster.

Then he turned around, and took a HUGE swing at his punching bag, which made it fly several inches into the air, causing Carmine and Ogerpon to gasp.

“…Maybe you’re right, Carmine. Maybe you’re not the one I should be angry at. There’s only one person I could defeat… like, really really stomp into the ground…” he mumbled to himself. “To finally prove that I deserve respect. And then the ogre would see… who’s truly the strongest.”

He smacked the bag with his one fist one more time, and then bitterly muttered…

“But she’s not here.”

Carmine, sighing to herself and still cradling a trembling Ogepron in her arms, tried one last time to step forward and reach out to her brother.

“Leave.”

“Kiki—”

“Just leave!” he sharply turned around. “I need to train harder and harder! And figure out the new rules! Now that I’m Champion… EVERYTHING’S going to change around here!”

Carmine breathed out. She wanted to just keep trying, to pull her little brother out from whatever this shadowy state that seemed to be overtaking him was, but—

“Get out!”

He rushed over, pushed both girls out of his room, and slammed the door in their faces.

“Ponnnnn…”

…It was just the next day after that the new, angry Kieran emerged and inflicted his bitterness over the whole League.

And Carmine sat there trying not to blame herself for it.

It’s not my fault anyway, right? Kieran thinks he’s entitled to Ogerpon’s friendship when all he’s done is scare the poor thing… He just won’t recognize her as her own individual making her own choices.

Poor Ogerpon…

She thought about the traumatized ogre, who she had sent out to run free in the Terrarium. Carmine hoped that would help calm Ogerpon’s nerves, since she’d still been rattled ever since the encounter.

What did Kieran even do to scare her so much this time…? The poor thing was practically having a panic attack. She never acted like that towards Kiki before, even when she was afraid of him.

Amarys would have answers…

Carmine pulled out her Rotom Phone and tried to call Amarys, but there was no answer. Figuring she might be in class or in a meeting, Carmine instead sent her a text asking when she’d next be free.

Just a short minute later, she got a reply… but it wasn’t good news.

Amarys Apologies. Kieran has all of us booked solid in meetings for the rest of the day, and possibly tomrrow as well.

After another few seconds, Amarys sent the exact same text again, re-written word for word, but with the “tomrrow” typo corrected.

Carmine sighed sadly. She shoved a whole fistful of fries into her mouth as she commiserated to herself.

“I wouldn’t give you Ogerpon, so now you’re going to take all my friends away from me? That’s real low, Kiki. Real low…”

She could almost feel herself starting to sniffle, until a cutting voice changed her mood.

“Yikes. Looks like you and I are both having a rough day, ehh Carmine?”

“Oh, gag me with a harpoon.”

Carmine wanted to curse the heavens for whatever demented joke they were playing on her as the person whose company she least wanted strode his way into the cafeteria like he owned the place.

A few students looked up at Drayton and murmured for a few seconds, but quickly went back to their own business. Drayton observed this disparity as he stopped at Carmine’s table.

“Ouch. Just a week ago, I could walk into any room and classmates would be askin’ for my autograph or a battle. I guess being #2 isn’t anywhere near as glamorous—”

“Get out of here, Dray-turd,” Carmine grumpily interrupted him. “I’m in no mood for your pity parties or your gloating. So unless what you’re hungry for is a knuckle sandwich, then scram.”

“I would never dare do either of those things. Just wanted to ‘ketchup’ with ya.” He pointed at her ketchup dipping dish. “Heh! Get it? ‘Ketchup’?”

Carmine rolled her eyes and groaned in annoyance.

“What are you even doing here, bozo? From what Amarys just told me, you’re supposed to be cooped up in the clubroom right now.”

Drayton took a seat and hung his arms up behind his head in his usual irritatingly chill fashion.

“Yeah, but I told your little ‘Kiki’ I had to use the boys’ room. He told me to make it quick, so I made up an excuse about having the runs. That should keep him from investigating me.”

“TM-freaking-I!” Carmine seethed. “You’re such a gross jerk! How about I shove all these fries down your throat, and you can make that excuse a reality!?”

“Wow! Hey, chill! I’m here as your friend, I promise. I’m just super bored and wanted to poke your brain on what you think of your brother’s newfound leadership. I mean, from the looks of it, it doesn’t like he isn’t making you very popular around campus.”

Carmine folded her arms and pouted. “…What’s it to you? Just leave me alone already.”

“Well… I’ll be blasé and tell you what I think,” Drayton replied. “Straight from the heart? Your brother’s… kind of a drag right now.”

“I’ll drag you through the mud if you’re going to start shit-talking my brother.”

“Wow, you’ve got more barbs on you than an Overqwil, don’t you? But hey, beat me and bruise me all you want. I just know that life in this club is nowhere fun as it used to be with him making up all these new rules and holding everyone up to impossible standards. I don’t know if anybody’s told you this, but we’ve had eight students quit the whole League this week. They didn’t even wait for Kieran to punish them.”

Carmine’s eyes shifted around and she quietly muttered, “…No, I didn’t know that.”

“And me, I thought not being Champion anymore might actually be more exciting! Finally, a lot of responsibility off my shoulders. But instead, the kid’s got me watching everyone’s battles, forcing me to do one-on-one evaluations just so he can criticize me for going too lax on them?”

He shook his head in exasperation.

“I never knew how good I had it being able to skip every meeting before! The new grueling day-in day-outs of this club almost make me yearn for the ‘caring, loving’ embrace of my family back home. … Almost.”

“How sad for you,” Carmine rolled her eyes. “I don’t know what you’re hoping for me to do about it.”

“He’s your brother. You haven’t… tried to talk to him about it or anything?”

Carmine looked up at Drayton gravely.

“I did. In fact, trying to talk him down is what made him so angry. So if you just want your life to be even harder, I’m your girl apparently.”

“Hmmm…”

Drayton had a bit of a shifty look on his face now.

“Well… believe it or not, I also had another reason for coming here. I want to know more about some of your… juicy secrets.”

My juiciest secret is I want to twist your nose as hard as I can and put in earplugs so I can’t hear you saying ‘Uncle’.

“What big ‘secrets’ of mine could you possibly care about, you self-absorbed weirdo?”

“Well… mostly, I just want to know when you were planning to tell your old pal the Drayster that you’ve got friends in high places.”

“What are you even blabbering about? … HEY!”

Drayton suddenly grabbed Carmine’s phone and began typing something on it. He instinctively held up a hand to block Carmine’s face as she stood up to maw at him.

“You’d better give my phone back right now, asshole, before I—”

“Relax, okay?” He slid the phone back to her with a picture open. “I’m talking about this.”

She looked at her own phone in annoyance, but her eyes lit up upon being confronted directly with…

Juliana.

Carmine felt all the nerves in her body shoot up upon seeing that happy, smiling face again, and for a brief moment, all of her neurons shut down.

That toothy grin. Her gorgeous brown eyes.

Carmine had to stifle a chuckle. She’s still wearing her hair like that…

She zoomed out on the picture, to reveal it was part of an online article, and Juliana was in the middle of a group photo.

She was about to investigate further, when a sudden thought nagged her back into reality.

“Hang on a minute.” She swiftly turned to Drayton, eyes narrowed. “How did you even know I’m friends with this girl? I certainly never bothered to tell you that.”

“Oh, I have my ways…” Drayton boasted. “Lacay can be very persuasive.”

“Lacey’s my friend and would never talk about my crushes with anyone, especially the likes of you!” Carmine seethed through her teeth.

“Alright. So I tricked her into revealing the information with my incredible charm. The same way I just tricked you into telling me it’s a whole-on crush!”

Carmine actually squeaked at realizing this and pulled Drayton down by his jacket.

“I—I do not have a crush on Juliana! She was a friend I made in Kitakami! Geez, you’re so annoying!”

“Well, whatever you want to call her, it looks like your pal’s a bonafide Champion now.”

“…Really?”

Carmine let go of him and took a closer look at the article now. The headline read “UP-AND-COMING UVA PRODIGY SETS NEW RECORD FOR YOUNGEST TRAINER TO ACHIEVE CHAMPION RANK IN PALDEA”.

Juliana was beaming from cheek to cheek while posing with several adults whom Carmine presumed to be Paldea’s Elite Four, and holding a large medal.

She recognized Geeta in the lineup, the “Top Champion” or whatever they called it of the Paldea region. The weakest Champion to ever exist. Next to her was a tall man dressed in a business suit, making zero effort to smile, who looked absolutely dead on the inside.

Another tall man, with broad shoulders, stood behind Juliana. Carmine recognized him vaguely as someone who once came to Blueberry as a guest instructor, and seemed to know Drayton’s family. The quality of the photo almost made it look like there were tears running down his cheeks.

There was also a rather cute-looking guy—wait, no, that’s a girl!—with a very laidback smile. A… surprisingly handsome girl.

For some reason, there was also a small child in the photo, standing in front of the androgynous girl with an excited smile on her face.

Is that her kid, or someone else’s…?

Carmine boggled as she read the article, detailing the story of Juliana’s journey to becoming Champion and making particular note of how recently she had enrolled in Uva Academy and started out as a Trainer before making it this far.

“She only just started as a Trainer a few months ago… and now she’s already Champion…”

“…Really?”

Carmine didn’t see, but Drayton’s normally droopy eyes shot up, and he began scratching his chin, intrigued.

Boy, doesn’t that sound familiar?

“It’s only been less than two months since the Kitakami trip. How many Badges did that snot-nosed kid say she had at that point? Four?” Carmine tried to recall.

The article went on to talk more about Juliana’s victory, her friendship and thrilling exhibition match with Nemona, the other youngest Uva student to make Champion Rank, and a blurb from the school’s director, who credited her with helping to resolve a conflict between a group of troubled students (Team Star? That’s right, I remember her saying something about them…) as an example of how she was already using her newfound fame to guide and influence people around her for the better.

“Wow, so she’s a quick mover,” said Drayton. “Must be an incredibly strong Trainer then?”

“Yeah…” Carmine fondly remembered. “Juliana and I battled a few times, and she put up one of the best fights I think I’ve ever had. And she showed so much passion for it every single time… Guess I shouldn’t be too surprised.”

The gears were clicking in Drayton’s brain as he tried to put all the pieces of this Juliana girl together in his head.

“You said you two met in Kitakami. Does that… mean Kieran knew her too? Did they ever battle?”

Carmine reminisced with a sadder face now.

“Yeah… they actually started as friends. And it seemed like they had gotten really close with each other for a while. But then… Kiki got so frustrated after losing to her in battle, and so much stuff happened with the ogre.” She sighed morosely. “Last straw that broke the Camerupt’s back was when Kieran demanded another battle for ownership over Ogerpon, but Juliana said no and tried to talk him down… Kiki just got really upset and—”

She was so immersed in her memories for a minute that she had forgotten who she was talking to.

“Hang on! Why am I even telling you any of this!? Since when do you care about our personal problems?”

“I care immensely,” Drayton promised. “What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t? Everything you’ve told me is… well…” A smug smile began to appear on his face. “It’s interesting. It’s all, very very interesting…”

Carmine leered. “…Why are you smiling like that?”

“Like what?”

“Like you’re got something super annoying cooking up in your thick head.”

“Come on, Car, you know me, I smile like this all the time,” Drayton replied.

“Yeah, and you’re always being an annoying dillweed, so my case rests…” Carmine mumbled.

Drayton turned around and, unheard by Carmine, started musing to himself out loud.

“The kid has been muttering lately about some girl lately that he’s been unable to beat, almost like it’s all he thinks about now,” he pondered. “If that really is her, and she’s a League-recognized Champion now…” He crossed his arms and closed his eyes, deep in thought. “I wonder…”

“DRAYTONNN!!!”

Drayton’s thoughts, and the tranquility of all the students in the cafeteria, were sharply disturbed by a sudden angry yell from the entrance.

Lacey had thrust the doors open, her face red and her hazel eyes emanating a boiling fury that was so uncommon for the normally sweet, soft-spoken Fairy-loving girl.

“I KNEW IT! I knew you were pulling some kind of trick!” Lacey shouted. “Stop bothering Carmine and get back to the clubroom RIGHT NOW!”

“Welp, that’s my cue to leave,” said a rattled Drayton. “You’ve really rubbed off on sweet Lacey, huh?”

He got up and started hastily running. He called out to Carmine…

“If you find my dead body, send my ashes to anywhere except my Grandpa, kay?”

“GET BACK HERE!” Lacey snarled at Drayton. As she passed by Carmine, she briefly put on her normal kind smile and greeted “Hey Carmine!” before chasing Drayton down with her game face back on.

Carmine stifled a giggle. Then, to her surprise, she looked down to see Lacey had left something behind on the desk for her.

A wrapped strawberry pastry. One of the more costly items on the cafeteria’s desserts menu. Lacey had even drawn a heart on it with a purple marker.

Carmine picked up the tasty treat in awe and unwrapped it. As she bit into it, she couldn’t help but place her hand on her cheek, marveling at the rich sweetness of the delectable that was usually out of her BP wallet’s reach.

Her phone was still out in front of her. Grinning softly, she zoomed in on Juliana’s picture again and placed the phone upright over a saltshaker on the table.

“Look at ‘em go, eh Juliana?” she chuckled. “It’s funny that spaz thinks I’m the one who gave Lacey that kind of temper. Just goes to show that he’s never met Clay! Lacey seems super-sweet most of the time, but if you push her buttons hard enough, she’ll show you that she is really her father’s girl. And it’s scary.”

In her head, she imagined Juliana laughing in response. Juliana had a very bubbly laugh, she remembered, and found humor in some of the oddest things sometimes.

“…Maybe you would just laugh at her like you always used to with me. But then again, I feel like you and Lacey would get along really, really well. Like… she’d never have any reason to feel angry about you, I bet!”

Gazing at Juliana’s picture, she found herself smiling more.

“I guess, anyone who crosses paths with you is really lucky to have you as a friend. You’ve probably been bringing smiles to everyone over there at Uva. Haven’t you?”

Juliana’s static picture continued to beam happily. Carmine, strangely, felt just a tiny bit less alone now as she munched on her delicious strawberry-filled dessert.

“Orrrrrder up!”

Valencia, the head chef of the Treasure Eatery, confidently brought out a whole cart of food plates over to the dining table where the four Uva students clapped happily and smiled eagerly.

“Yaaaaay!” Juliana and Nemona cheered.

“Thank you for cooking and delivering it us to us, ma’am,” Arven thanked while lightly bowing his head.

“Yeah, and—and thank you for the heated pillows!” said Penny. “That was really kind of you.”

“Think nothing of it, kids!” the sweet chef smiled. “Here at the Treasure Eatery, we always strive to make it a cozy place to eat for everyone. Rain, sleet, or shine!”

Valencia craned her neck to look out the nearest window.

“And lucky for you kids, the snow seems to be calming down now. Nothing like the ripe blizzard we had going on last night. What a flurry! Really came straight out of nowhere!”

Juliana nearly choked on one of her grilled rice balls.

“A-a blizzard out of nowhere?”

“Mm-hm! Lots of folks in Medali came running in here last night just to take shelter from it! And you all know Larry, right? Our Gym Leader?” They nodded. “The poor fellow got snowed in while visiting someone in Cortondo! He was stuck there all night!”

As she led the cart away, she kept on muttering, “Called in his first sick day in over six months too, from what I hear. He must’ve caught a cold real bad.”

The quartet all huddled together with alarmed faces and spoke in hushed tones.

“Okay, so… did we or did we not cause a huge blizzard with Turo’s time machine?” a panicking Juliana wondered.

“I don’t know,” said a flustered Penny. “Those notes could have just been the Professor speculating and it’s all a coincidence. ..R-right?”

“Well I never heard anything about dad’s research messing with the weather,” Arven said. “But I suggest we just keep calm and act like everything’s normal.”

“Yeah, I agree,” Nemona nodded. “But hey! Look on the bright side. At least it was just a giant blizzard we brought in from the future, and not a bunch of rampaging robot Pokémon!”

“I—I still don’t think that’s how it works,” said Penny, shaking her head.

“Well, either way I’m very glad we were able to prevent that outcome!” Arven said proudly. “Who knows what kind of chaos would’ve occurred if those terrifying Paradoxes had gotten loose all over Paldea? Honestly…” he looked a bit sorrowful. “I still can’t believe my dad was ever seriously thinking of letting that happen.”

Nemona, sitting directly next to him, felt bad for him and gently rested her hand on his shoulder to try to comfort him. He smirked lightly at her in appreciation.

“…I’m glad all of you guys came,” he said quietly. “I don’t—I don’t know that I would’ve handled facing all of that alone.”

“Of course! It was our pleasure,” Nemona handled him. “But who knows? With my skills, I bet I could’ve taken down all those rogue Pokémon and saved Paldea myself if they had gotten out!”

Arven chuckled. “With you and Juliana working side-by-side like I saw you guys take out that Glimmora, those Paradoxes would’ve been up against formidable opponents for sure!”

“Hey, don’t count me out,” said Penny. “My Veevees and I would’ve done our part to help too. I bet I could’ve even recruited my Team Star buddies to run them all over with their Starmobiles!”

Everyone at the table laughed. Juliana did too, but as she thought back on all those strange Pokémon, she remembered something she wanted to bring up.

“There is one thing that I still think is a little odd, though.”

“What’s that, Jules?” said Arven as he swallowed a bite of his Tatsugiri sushi roll.

“So you remember Iron Treads, right? That’s what Turo—err, the AI said it was called. The one that looks like Donphan. And we fought the huge Titan one too?”

“Of course. How could I forget that tight battle?”

“I’ve just been thinking about it and… don't you think the Iron Treads we fought in the desert looked… a little bit different from all the ones we saw in Area Zero?”

“How so?” asked a puzzled Arven. “You mean cause it was much huger?”

“Well, not just that. Remember? It also had those really huuuge tusks! None of the Iron Treads in Area Zero had big tusks like that!”

Arven thought back. “…Huh. You’re right, I guess they didn’t.”

“Maybe those Herbs that made it super gigantic also enhanced the way its tusks grew out?” Penny suggested.

“I guess so. It’s just… I swear its eyes looked different too,” said Juliana. “And it didn’t look all metallic and robot-y like the ones down there.”

“Hey, yeah, you’re right!” Arven replied, slowly recalling the monster’s appearance. “I remember now! Both of them had red markings all over them, but the one in the desert’s looked like patches of fur or something! Heh! Now that I think about it, the Titan Treads kind of looked more like a dinosaur than a robot!”

“Maybe the Professor’s time machine brought over more than one kind of Donphan into the present!” said Nemona.

“Maybe,” Arven pondered. “Or maybe the Herbs do something weird to those Pokémon, make them a lot more organic looking.”

“Well now I wish I had tagged along with you two to fight those giant Pokémon from the beginning!” said Nemona, boxing the air with her fists. “I would’ve sent that Iron Treads thing running back crying into its proper place in the timeline, and then I would’ve been able to tell you the difference!”

Arven found himself chuckling again at Nemona’s eccentricities.

“Well… either way, what’s done is done. I guess that’s just one of the many mysteries of Area Zero that’s probably going to stay buried forever now.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Juliana concurred.

They all continued their meals and chatting with each other for the next hour.

Eventually, their plates were empty and their bellies were full. Valencia happily took all their plates and left the bill. Arven had insisted he was going to cover the bill since it was his idea to eat here… until he got a look at the actual numbers and almost whited out. Nemona heroically stepped in to pay for everyone’s meals instead, and promised Arven he could pay her back later, much to his gratitude.

While they waited for the tab to return, Arven and Nemona got to chatting with each other, while Penny kept her eyes glued to her phone. Until she heard the girl next to her softly giggling, and she looked over and noticed Juliana was reading a letter with Blueberry Academy’s branding on it.

“Is that from your friend at Blueberry?” Penny asked. “The one you told me about?”

“Oh… yeah,” said Juliana, a little embarrassed. “I was just, reading it over again. It’s a really nice letter, makes me really happy to read.”

 “That’s from the girl in Kitakami you talked about, right?” asked Nemona. “What was her name, Carmen?”

“Carmine.”

“Oh, hee-hee! Almost got it right!”

“Oh yeah, I forgot you were on a trip! I want to hear all about it sometime. The kinds of Pokémon you met there, and all the different foods they had!” Arven remembered. “When did that happen again?”

“I think, after the first couple of Titans we fought,” Juliana tried to recall.

“And your first four Gym Badges!” Nemona proudly pointed out.

“Oh yeah! I’m… really happy you remembered that!”

“I think that was also in-between you taking down Mela’s Schedar Squad base and the Navi Squad base with Atticus,” said Penny. “…From what I recall, anyway.”

“So let me get this straight…” Arven pieced together. “So this whole time, you were helping me with the Titans. AND defeating all the Gym Leaders. AND taking down all the Team Star hideouts with Penny. AND you went on a school trip while all three of those were going on!?”

“Well…” Juliana sheepishly mulled over. “Yeah.”

“Ay caramba, that’s a lot of adventurin’ you were doing!” Nemona exclaimed.

“Yeah, tell me about it!” said Arven. “I guess you were always busy in one way or another, or sometimes two. I guess that—” He stopped himself. “Well, no, I don’t want to say that.”

“What is it?” asked Juliana, genuinely curious. Everyone looked to Arven now.

“Well, geez. I—I was just going to say I guess that’s why you look so tired a lot of the time.”

Juliana looked perplexed.

“Tired? I don’t… look tired, do I?”

She looked to Nemona for affirmation. Nemona gave a bit of a non-committal shrug.

“Not that I’ve noticed. But… people say I’m kind of bad at noticing things like that, like when people are too exhausted to battle anymore,” she awkwardly giggled.

“Umm…” Penny decided to speak up. “I mean—I guess I saw you looking like you were a little worn out and having to stretch your legs a bunch while we were adventuring through the Crater.”

“…I did?”

“AY!” Nemona stood up in shock. “I don’t want to be hearing that my bestie’s in pain like that! Juliiiiiie! Having lots and lots of adventures is tons of fun, but don’t be pushing so hard that your body can’t take it!”

“Guys, guys, I’m fine! Really!” Juliana assured them, feeling a little flustered now. “Maybe I went a little too hard every now and then, but that was just because I was so eager to help people! You don’t need to worry about me. I’m made of iron like all those Paradoxes!” she snarked, flexing her muscles.

“Okay,” Arven said, deciding to believe her. “Just… make sure you’re not ever spreading yourself too thin, little buddy, okay? Promise?”

“And that you’re always remembering to eat and sleep when you need it!” Nemona chimed in.

Juliana gulped. “Yeah, I-I promise I’ll be more careful.” She patted her full stomach. “I feel well-fed today, so quit worrying already!”

“Great!” said Nemona, pumping her fist in the air. “Now that we’ve got that all settled, and we’ve finished our meals, what are we gonna do next!?”

Arven threw his head back. “You’ve gotta be kidding me! Does your battery ever run out!?”

“What!” Nemona protested. “I’m always up for more fun adventures! Especially if it’s a battle! How about it?”

“Mm, mm! No way!” Arven sternly shook his head. “Remember what we just talked about with Juliana? I think now, after everything we went through, it’s time we went home and all had a good rest.”

“Awwwwww!” Nemona deflated.

“I’m with you there,” said Penny. “My legs feel like jelly right now. Today was probably more time spent outside than I’ve ever done in years. And enough exercise for a lifetime. Plus, I’m still kind of shaken after encountering all those scary robots. I just wanna go back home and cuddle with my Veevees and watch anime for the night.”

“Yeah, fine, I guess I’m tired too,” Juliana finally admitted. “Although…”

“Although what?” Nemona perked up.

“The next time we meet up, if you guys are interested, I’ve got an idea for something we could do. Who’d be up for a little special treasure hunt through Paldea?”

“A treasure hunt!?”

“What kind of treasure?” asked Arven.

“Have any of you guys had Ms. Raifort’s history classes? Where she talked about these ancient Pokémon from old legends that supposedly put a curse on a king and led his kingdom to ruin?”

“Oh yeah, I think I remember that!” Nemona recalled.

“Uhh, y-yeah!” Arven coughed. “I remember that one too.”

“You haven’t attended any history classes, have you?” said an unimpressed Nemona.

“…You don’t know that.”

“You really need to start attending classes, y’know,” she politely scolded him. “I’d even offer to tutor you to make catching up a lot easier for you so you can still graduate!”

“You… you would?” said a surprised Arven.

“Hold up!” Penny whined. “Are we really not going to talk about the fact that she just said these Pokémon are… c-c-cursed?” she stammered, her hands shaking.

Arven huffed. “Don’t worry Penny, there’s no such thing as curses!”

“H-how can you be so sure…?”

“We’re just talking about old legends, right? None of it’s real?” Arven postered.

“Well, actually…”

Juliana proceeded to tell them about what Raifort had shared with her when Juliana took up a conversation with her at the academy, about how the Pokémon of legend not only exist, but are supposedly entombed within Paldea itself!

She showed everyone where Raifort had marked the four Shrines supposedly containing the ancient Pokémon on her map, and pictures of the different colored stakes dotted all around Paldea, that Raifort explained are seals that will unlock each of the Shrines.

“Hey, I think I’ve seen these before!” said Nemona. “I always wondered what they were for. I guess I just thought they were weird decorations people put up.”

Arven gazed at the four Shrine gates shown.

“You know what? When I was in all those places looking for the Titan Pokémon, I ran into a couple of these glowing spots. Let’s see, I remember this one was in the Socarrat Trail, and… this one is somewhere near where we met the Flying Titan with the boulders.”

“Wow, it’s really starting to sound like these Pokémon ARE real!” Penny clamored. “But… you said those stakes are littered all over random spots in Paldea, right? How are we supposed to find them all without spending a whole year on this?”

“Hmmm…” everyone thought.

“I’ve got it!” Arven proclaimed. “It looks like there are four of these Shrines, and each of them has their own corresponding stakes. Well, there are four of us too! That means we could each split up and take a different quadrant of Paldea around each of the Shrines, and together we’ll find them all in no time!”

“That’s a fantastic idea!” said Juliana, excited.

Then Nemona slapped her hand on the table.

“And I just thought of a way to make it even more exciting! Four Shrines means there must be four Pokémon in total! Right? How about this? Whoever finds one of the Shrines and gets it open gets to keep the Legendary Pokémon they find inside for themselves!”

They all went “Oooh” and clamored in agreement. Now this was really starting to sound like a grand hunt!

After their tab came back, they all left the restaurant and headed back to the Academy to get a good night’s rest.

Then, as soon as the next morning after classes let out, they met up one more time outside the school, made a plan, and headed off in different directions.

Juliana, Nemona, Arven, and Penny all split off into the different Provinces, excited to go on a grand adventure all through Paldea and find treasures for each of them!

And all the way across the sea, Carmine was reflecting on adventures past too.

She sat at her desk in her dorm room, having just read over Juliana’s letter. She was shocked and delighted to find out that the girl actually wrote her back, and shared a bunch of her adventures with Carmine too!

Carmine had a warm smile on her face reading the letter, and she found herself holding it up to her nose and inhaling it, catching a whiff of Juliana’s scent—

“Wait!” she stopped herself. “Why am I doing that? That’s weird. Stop it, Carmine.”

She set the letter down, intending to put it by her beside table so she could treasure it and read it at night when she needed help sleeping.

Her phone was on the desk, still open to the picture of Juliana from the article Drayton had pulled up.

Seeing the picture made her smile even more.

But as she looked both at the picture and at the letter, that smile faltered a bit. Sighing deeply as she internalized her own emotions, Carmine decided to address Juliana’s image again.

“Hey. ... Can I tell you something? Something I definitely wouldn’t have the courage to tell you in a letter?”

Juliana just smiled back at her. Carmine sighed again.

“As much as I hate to admit it, I…”

Her eyes scrunched shut.

“I—I actually really wish you were here right now.”

Chapter Text

Several more weeks passed by at Uva Academy. With Juliana and her friends having just about completed all their goals, each of them was stepping forward into new horizons, figuring out where their own personal futures were going to take them.

Juliana's proposed hunt for the Treasures of Ruin turned out a fun and very fruitful quest. The four students each combed one of Paldea's provinces and were able to find all the stakes needed to open the creatures' seals and with their powerful teams, each of them successfully felled the Legendary Pokémon they found slumbering in the Shrines and caught it for themselves.

They all gathered to show their new companions to Raifort, who was impressed and extremely enamored to get a chance to see the Treasures of Ruin in the flesh. She awarded all of them special TM's and… also made a rather sinister offer.

"If any of you ever find that those beings are too much for you to handle…" Raifort pushed up her glasses, opaquing them. "I will gladly take them off your hands."

Penny later admitted, "I think she irks me out more than any of those beasts."

Luckily, the four of them also didn't face too much trouble for venturing into Area Zero against the League's permission, with Geeta and Director Clavell both recognizing the urgency of the situation. Arven was finally offered proper condolences for his father's death, with the promise that official matters would be taken care of very soon.

So that just left the group to figure out what they wanted to do for the rest of their Treasure Hunt.

Figuring that knowing more about where he came from would help him discover where he's moving forward, Arven decided to channel his grief into curiosity and dove into his father's history. This empowered him to realize his new dream of wanting to be a cook making healthy foods to heal people's problems the way he used the power of the Herba Mystica to heal Mabosstiff.

Newly resolved to attend classes and try to catch up on all his wayward credits, he begrudgingly accepted Nemona's offer for tutorship.

With Clavell's expulsion order nulled and Team Star encouraged to attend classes again, Penny worried about her friends and how they were adjusting to returning to school life. She and Juliana spied on each of the bosses as they made new friends, reunited with old ones, joined school clubs, and Atticus was even inspired to start his own larping club.

Pleased that they were all fitting in better than she thought, the Galarian girl settled into her new habit of juggling classes, work for the League, and making time for friends.

And catching up on all her favorite streamers like Iono and Nidothing, of course.

Nemona meanwhile, was still energized by the Academy Ace Tournament, a special event match-up the school had held shortly after her own exhibition match with Juliana spread fervor among the student body.

The Academy Ace Tournament had quickly become a regular event in the school grounds now, with Nemona participating frequently, and finding new opponents in the process who were actually eager to match her level now.

She had never been happier, feeling like she finally had the freedom to battle to her heart's content without holding back. She wasn't so dependent on Juliana to scratch that itch for her like before!

But that didn't mean that their bond had weakened any, or that Juliana wasn't still willing to give Nemona the kind of day she craved, like today.

"Ahhh, good stuff!"

The two friends stood in the middle of the schoolyard, having just finished up several hours of non-stop battling, with Nemona testing out different team members, and Juliana using the opportunity to try to discover her own Pokémon's ultimate strengths.

A light snowfall—now, determinedly a natural one—decorated the yard, and the girls' change in attire reflected the passing of the seasons. Well, Nemona's blue scarf did anyway.

"Yeah, that was fun! A real workout!"

Juliana had on the proper winter academy uniform, with black snow boots she'd purchased from one of the clothing stores in Levincia, and a hat to protect her head.

She had added a little of her personal flair back to her hairstyle, now incorporating both her Kitakami ponytail, with black ends sticking out of it, and the return of her front braid, tied with a small Iono Zone-themed hairclip in it.

The black ends had been Nemona's suggestion, while Arven personally told her he liked her hair with the braid when they first met, and the Iono hairclip was a gift from Penny.

Nemona punched the air eagerly with her hands.

"Gotta step up my game so I'll be ready anytime for that Academy Ace Tournament!"

"You mean the School Battle Brawl?" Juliana giggled.

Nemona's eyebrows furrowed. "I am still not calling it that. I don't care if even the registration forms are calling it that now! Freaking Arven…" she mumbled.

This only made Juliana chuckle more.

"I know I sprang my battle fever on you out of nowhere. Thanks for being up for it, JuJu!"

"It was no problem at all!" Then Juliana winced. "Also… no."

"Awwwww!" Nemona's arms flopped forward in disappointment. "Arven was so lucky scoring Jules so quickly. I AM going to find a cute nickname that meets your approval!"

She kept thinking hard about nicknames as the two headed towards the entrance.

"How about… Cool Jul!"

"Definitely not."

"Or… Liana!"

"…Mmm. I don't know."

"Ohh, come on, sister!" Then she gasped. "Ooh! We should call each other 'sis'!"

Juliana stopped in her tracks.

"N-no…" she stammered. "Not sis."

"Oh… sorry," Nemona apologized, not having expected to hit a nerve.

They walked on further.

"I got it! You could be just… J!"

Juliana chuckled. "…Maybe."

"I could even call you Miss J!"

"Nope, you lost me again."

The two of them laughed and chatted as they made their way down the halls.

"I'm still thinking about what electives I want to pick next semester," said Nemona. "The temptation to take even more battle arts classes is high, but… I do want to try out new things."

"Mmm," Juliana nodded.

"What about you, Jul…iana?" she asked, almost nicknaming her again. "What are you thinking about doing?"

"Ohh… I don't know," Juliana shrugged.

Nemona craned forward so Juliana could see her face.

"Well, you must have some idea of what you want to do next! You're clearly restless for more adventures!"

"How do you know that?"

"Your left foot is literally twitching right now!"

Juliana looked down at her foot. "Oh."

Nemona giggled.

"Well… I don't know," Juliana admitted. "It's just that going all over Paldea for the Treasure Hunt was so fun that—I don't know what else can compare. It's not like they would just let me challenge the Gym Leaders and take the League assessment over again, is it?"

"Heh! You wouldn't see me anywhere else if you could do that as many times as you wanted!" Nemona snarked. "Don't worry. I'm sure you'll figure it out. Just remember, opportunity doesn't always come knocking right at the door. Sometimes, we have to make our own adventures!"

"Heh heh, yeah. I guess I got so used to bumping into you and so many other people with quests for me that I just keep expecting to bump into someone else all over again! But what are the odds that—Hmm? Something wrong?"

Nemona was making an odd face as she looked ahead.

"That's Penny over there, right? … What's she doing?"

The Champion Rank Trainer looked forward and spotted Penny. She was hunched under the railing that overlooked the academy's main lobby from that second floor, and appeared to be sticking her head between the rails.

Juliana was used to the sight of Penny snooping around a few times now, and knew how to delicately approach. She quietly Krabby-walked over to the girl until she was right up behind her and then uttered…

"Whisper, whisper."

Penny was only slightly startled by the appearance of her friend and quietly huffed.

"You're way too good at finding me when I'm trying to be incognito."

"Color your hair differently if you're trying not to stand out," Juliana lightly teased. "Are we spying on more of your friends?"

"No. No, I don't feel like I need to keep following my buds around anymore. They seem to be taking to school life pretty well, I guess."

Nemona quietly came up behind them and scolded, "You girls have been eavesdropping on your friends? That's not very friend-like behavior!"

"I know, but… look!" Penny pointed.

Nemona peered over the railing and her eyes widened.

"That's… Arven!"

"With Director Clavell!" said Juliana.

"And… La Primera!?"

Arven was standing in the middle of the big lobby area with the two most important authorities of the academy alongside him. Director Clavell seemed to be eyeing his phone, and making a slightly sour face as he did so.

But Geeta was pacing restlessly, only stopping every few seconds to tap her foot all antsy. A bit like Nemona had just observed in Juliana, but more intensely. And her face read like she was trying not to appear irritated.

"Why does La Primera look so grumpy?" Nemona was bobbing her head all around, with a very worried look on her face. "You don't think Arven's… in trouble, do you?"

"I don't… think so?" Penny answered. "Surely if he was in hot water with Geeta of all people, they'd be talking about it someplace private. Geeta doesn't usually like to be where anyone else can see her having trouble keeping a lid on her emotions. For… as much as I've been around her, anyway. And Arven doesn't look upset or anything."

Geeta, whose fingers were moving about in wild ways, stopped pacing to address the two.

"I feel like I must apologize for all this trouble. Rika is usually very punctual. I would've expected her to take care of this matter before we'd arrived to Mesagoza. I feel terrible for both of you having your time wasted like this."

Clavell shook his head.

"It's quite alright, Ms. Geeta. Young Poppy's well-being is always important, and I know how closely Rika looks after her. I don't fault her for putting the child's needs first."

"Yeah, and…" Arven spoke up. "I don't have any more classes until the evening, so it's-it's alright."

Juliana thought Arven's voice sounded a little shaky.

"Yes, but… what of your other appointment, Director?"

Clavell took another look at his phone and grimaced.

"Well… as it is, he's running very late," he sighed. "I imagine we have an extra hour or so at our disposal until he arrives."

"I see." Geeta put her finger to her face. "You're surprisingly calm about this."

Clavell just sighed. "When you've known him for as long as I have, these things are just to be expected. In all sincerity, I'd be more surprised if he had made that first flight."

"Yes, well. With the new arrangements being set in place, I imagine I'll have to learn to deal with the man's erratic schedule as well, but it's important for both our schools to—"

Geeta was interrupted by the doors being thrust open, as the League's loyal chief receptionist Rika sprinted her way in. She was starkly out of breath like she had been running all the way up the stairs.

"Hey, everybody…! Sorry… about the wait." She took a second to collect herself. "But Poppy's cab is on the way to Medali now. I just saw her off. We're all good."

"Very well," Geeta nodded. "Perhaps we shall proceed now."

"Indeed. Master Arven?"

"Yes sir!"

Arven followed the three adults as they started walking up the stairs towards the left wing of the second floor.

Nemona started heading down the stairs from the right wing.

"Come on, let's see where they're going!"

Juliana and Penny started following her lead.

"I thought you just said you were against eavesdropping," said Penny.

"Well, yeah! But… but Arven's our friend! It's different. We have to make sure he's okay."

Penny looked bemused and quietly said to Juliana, "How is that any different from when we were spying on my friends to make sure they were okay?"

Juliana just smiled and shrugged.

The three friends stayed a distance behind until they watched Arven and his entourage make themselves at home inside an empty meeting room and close the doors.

For the next hour, they tried leaning against the walls in different ways to see if they could make out the conversation happening inside.

"Can you hear anything?" Juliana whispered to Penny, who had an ear up to the line between the doors.

She shook her head. "I can hear people talking, but I can't make out any words. How's come people always hear perfectly like this in the movies?"

"Well, they're thick doors, Penny," said Nemona.

Juliana decided to lean all the way down to the floor and try listening through the slit underneath the doors.

"I can… make out their voices a little bit," she whispered. "It sounds like they're each taking turns talking."

"Yeah, and I can hear papers shuffling around," Penny was pretty sure.

Nemona glued her head to the wall, still fretting.

"I just… really hope Arven's okay. I know he gets on my nerves all the time, but that doesn't mean I want to see anything bad happen to him."

"I mean… nobody's raising their voice, or sounds like they're upset…"

Juliana sat up with a worried look on her face.

"But that doesn't mean there's nothing to worry about. Arven's been trying real hard to scrounge up enough credits to graduate, right? What if… he has to repeat a year? Or, or worse. … Maybe they're just kicking him out."

Nemona gulped. "C'mon, girls, be… be more optimistic than that. … Please, for my sake."

Penny started contemplating something risky.

"Hey… I know I made a promise to the school not to go hacking into their networks again… but… if we really wanted answers, I could—go through their emails or look at Arven's record to see what's up."

Juliana and Nemona both frowned in response.

"That's a really bad idea, Penny," Juliana warned. "If they caught you doing that, then it'd be you getting kicked out of here."

"Yeah, but—I—I wouldn't get caught…" she mumbled.

"That's still a hard no!" Nemona sternly responded. "That's a major invasion of privacy—and I know this sort of is too—but I draw the line at digital espionage."

Penny leaned in again. "Wait… they're done talking, I think."

Nemona put her head to the door as Juliana put her ear over the slit again.

"Yeah, now I'm hearing footsteps. Wait, I think they're getting closer to the—"

Suddenly, all three of them were pushed to the ground as the doors swung open.

As they all picked themselves up from the floor, their blurred sight could make out a thin figure leering over them. Eventually, their vision cleared and they realized it was…

"Yup! Just as I thought!" Rika declared, glaring at all three of them. "We've got a bunch of eavesdroppers over here!"

"Uh oh…" Nemona mumbled.

Geeta stepped over and sighed disappointedly.

"From two Champion Rank Trainers no less… Not the sort of uncouth behavior the League endorses."

"Yeah, that's right!" Rika agreed. "At least with the hacker girl, I would expect something like this!" She waved her finger between Juliana and Nemona. "But you two are supposed to be role models! What if other students saw what you were just doing?"

"We're sorry," an ashamed Juliana murmured.

"Ummm, I'm sorry too, but… why am I being singled out?" said a slightly annoyed Penny.

Nemona stood up and bowed in disgrace.

"Please forgive them both, La Primera…" she said. "I—I was the one who said we should follow you to see what was going on. We were all just, just…"

"Worried about your friend?" Clavell stepped out to address them. "It's perfectly understandable, of course. Ordinarily yes, we do frown upon our students spying on each other instead of more direct communication but…"

He turned to Geeta. "We were standing out in the open with Master Arven for some time, so it makes sense that they feared the worst. And as it is, they bare the same secret that Master Arven did, having been down in Area Zero with him, so it's not as if they overheard anything that would be news to them."

Geeta pondered.

"Mm. I do see your point. Perhaps… it would've been better to include all of you in this conversation from the beginning. But, I was also concerned for young Arven's privacy."

"Wait, we're seriously letting them off the hook for this?" Rika said in surprise. "Because you all have even more things to answer for!" She turned crossly to the three of them. "You went into the Great Crater without the League's permission, didn't you?!"

The three of them all winced.

"Busted…" Penny moaned.

"That's right, you didn't think your ol' pal Rika was going to let that fly, did you!? Don't think you're not gonna get a scolding for that!"

"We're really sorry," said Nemona.

Rika grumbled. "Ohhhhh, sure! NOW you're sorry! I practically fell out of my seat when I heard about where you'd been! What do you have to say for yourselves?"

Geeta, herself feeling a little bit of the heat, gently placed her hands on Rika's shoulders.

"Rika… perhaps it was time you caught a cab to Medali and fetched Poppy."

"What!?" Rika sharply turned to her, flabbergasted that Geeta wasn't sharing her anger. "But—but…"

"I think Larry is probably tired of looking after her by now, don't you think?"

Rika groaned. She knew Geeta was right, but she also knew what her boss was doing.

"Alright, yeah, fine. I'll take my leave." She gave one more side eye to Juliana and her friends. "But don't think I'm letting this go! We're gonna have a serious talk one of these days!"

She made one last gesture of pointing her fingers from her eyes to the kids before heading off.

"…Please forgive Rika for that outburst," Geeta apologized on her behalf. "She won't say as much, but she was worried sick about you all when she'd heard what happened."

"Worry is really at the heart of where all of this is stemming from, isn't it?" Clavell concurred. "I think… as long as you all can promise that you'll never engage in this sort of behavior again, we can let bygones by bygones."

All three girls stood up and thanked Director Clavell for his merciful gesture. This drew the attention of a voice from inside.

"Guys?"

Juliana, Penny, and Nemona all peered into the room to see Arven looking at them all in surprise, still sitting down at the conference desk.

Clavell smiled softly. "…I think it would be in our best interest to let them be alone with their friend now, Ms. Geeta."

"…Are you sure?"

"I think we're just about done here, anyway."

"Well, yes. But…"

Geeta turned to face them with a concerned face. Juliana couldn't know for sure, but she thought La Primera was looking right at her.

Clavell whispered something into her ear. She considered it and nodded.

"Very well. You may all have this room to yourselves for as long as you need." She bowed. "My good graces to all of you."

With that, she and Clavell took their leave.

Juliana, Penny, and Nemona all filed in. Arven was very bemused to see them all.

"What are you guys doing here?"

"We were… worried about you," said Juliana.

"We saw you standing with the Director and La Primera in the lobby," Nemona explained.

"…We were afraid it was bad news or something," said Penny.

"Ohhh. Well, I'm glad to know you guys are concerned for me."

"Ruff-ruff!"

Juliana was a bit startled by that barking. It wasn't until Mabosstiff sat up and started ruffing that she even knew he was in the room.

Arven affectionately rubbed his buddy's head.

"But no, I'm fine… Everything's fine. Umm…" He swallowed a bit. "Actually, it's, it's good news. For you guys, especially."

"Huh? Why us?" asked Nemona.

Arven gave a small, almost somber smile as he gazed at all the papers and books left on the desk. Juliana took a look at them and realized they were Professor Turo's research papers.

Some of them spoke of things like the A.I. double and the time machine, as well as describing the Paradox Pokémon in greater detail than Heath's documentations did, which seemed to suggest they were materials recovered from his lab in Area Zero.

"Ummm, so sometime in the next week…" He closed his eyes and sighed for a second. "My dad's death is going to be announced officially to everyone. There will be an obituary for him in the papers and everything. None of us will have to pretend he's still alive."

Everyone gave mixed noises in response, partially relief and partly compassionate for Arven.

"Wow…" said Juliana.

"So they're just going to… tell the whole world? About what happened down there?" asked Penny.

"Well… yes and no." Arven gave Mabosstiff more affectionate rubs as he talked. "They're not going to say anything about us going down there, and everything like the time machine and the Paradoxes will still be a secret. It's just… They're going to have him declared dead. That's all."

"What are they going to say happened?" asked Nemona. She caught herself saying something she felt might be inconsiderate. "If… you're okay with that."

Arven shrugged. "More or less the truth, really. That… he was mortally wounded taking a…" He choked on his words a bit. "Taking a hit from one of the aggressive Pokémon down there."

"I see." Nemona folded her arms.

"At least they're not making up an excuse," said Juliana.

"Yeah… and I guess it makes sense," Penny reasoned. "Telling everyone the truth about that part will make more people want to stay out of Area Zero, even if they don't know what kind of Pokémon it was."

"Yeah, yeah," Arven nodded. "That's the exact same thing Ms. Rika said. That… it's going to help, keep people out."

Juliana looked at him with soft, sympathetic eyes.

"What about you, Arven? How are you feeling right now?"

"Me? I'm—I'm fine, of course! As always…"

Arven laid his hands on the desk and realized it wasn't worth trying to be tough.

"I guess it just… just…"

They all grew concerned when they saw a tear fall from his eye.

"I don't know why, but… somehow, it feels a bit more real now."

They were originally sitting across from him, but upon hearing this, the three girls got up and decided to surround Arven to comfort him. Juliana sat next to him and Mabosstiff while Penny was on the other side, and Nemona wrapped her arms around him.

"I'm sorry, Arven…" said Juliana.

"Me too," Penny agreed.

"It's going to be okay," Nemona said sweetly.

"I know it is. I just…" He wiped his eyes with his sleeve. "I just don't know how I'm supposed to keep a brave face around everybody. I mean, everyone in school is going to know the truth now, and they're all going to feed bad for me and I… I'm going to have to pretend that I just found out too when I've been dealing with this and holding it all in for weeks…"

Juliana and Penny looked at each other sadly, while Nemona began gently massaging his shoulders. Mabosstiff whined compassionately for him.

Nobody said anything for a bit, commiserating in Arven's grief.

Until finally, Juliana spoke up.

"The truth is… you're not pretending anything."

"What do you mean?"

"All of that pain you feel… It's real. It's all completely real in you. You're not faking how upset you are right now, right?"

"I guess not…" Arven smirked.

"And you're still not alone!" Nemona reminded him. "We'll always be there to support you, Arven. No matter what."

"I know…"

Just then, Mabosstiff perked up and nuzzled his head up against Arven, barking enthusiastically.

"Ha-ha! Gosh… I really am lucky to have all you guys. Seriously. You're all the best."

They all embraced in a hug.

"Awww, you're the best too, Arven!" said Juliana.

"We should do something to help Arven take his mind off!" Nemona decided after they split off.

"Ugh…" Arven groaned. "If you're seriously about to suggest a battle now of all times…"

"Hey! I'm not all about battling, you know!"

"Just mostly…" Penny muttered.

"How about we play some games?" Nemona suggested.

"You mean like… board games?"

"Yeah!"

Arven thought about it. "Yeah… Yeah, I could go for some good, light games to take my mind off, actually."

"Count me in too!" Juliana said excitedly.

"Great! I've got some up in my room! Be back in a flash!"

Nemona went up to her dorm room and quickly came back with several board games and party games for everyone to take their pick on.

Then the four friends all spent the next hour or so playing various games, laughing, and having fun with each other.

Penny looked at all the cards in her hands. She and Arven were now locked in the final round of a game that involved finding clues to guess a Pokémon in the other player's hand.

"Does it… have a horn?" Penny guessed.

"Yes. It does."

Penny placed down a card.

"Rhydon!"

"Nope, sorry!"

Penny placed her card in the center, and it was Arven's turn to guess now.

"Is your Pokémon… red?"

"It is."

"Ledyba!"

"Uhhh…" Penny looked at her cards. "He has to guess… the exact Pokémon, right?" she asked, looking to Nemona.

"Hmmm, well… He can use one of his Evo tokens there to—"

Arven gasped. "That's right! I forgot about those!" He excitedly pushed forward one of the two yellow hexagonal trinkets on his side. "Then it must be Ledian! Right?"

"… … …It's not," Penny finally said with a smug face.

"Wh—"

"I'm sorry," she giggled. "I just wanted to mess with you a bit."

Juliana couldn't help but bust out laughing.

Arven balked at the audacity. "That's not fair! She's doing psycho-whatzit warfare on me! You're the ref, Nemo! Throw her a red card or something!"

"This isn't a sports game, you knucklehead!" Nemona chortled.

Penny decided to make her move.

"Does your Pokémon… live in the Kanto region?"

"Urk! … It—it does."

"Ha!" She slapped a card down. "Nidoqueen!"

With an eyebrow cocked, Arven shook his head.

"Really!? Darn it!"

Arven put a finger to his chin and asked, "Does your Pokémon… have pincers for hands?"

Penny winced. "It… yeah, it does."

Arven coolly and silently slid a card across the table.

"Scizor."

Penny reluctantly nodded.

"Yeah. Yeah, that's it."

WOO-HOO!" Arven cheered, raising his hands in the air. "I'm the winner!"

"Darn it, I almost had you," Penny whined. "What was it anyway?"

"Ohhh… Pen, you're going to hate this."

He showed her the card that was face-down in front of him.

"NIDOKING!?" Penny exclaimed. "Ohhhh! That really isn't fair! I should get at least half points for guessing Nidoqueen!"

They all laughed at Penny's misfortune.

"If anything, I should be the one getting half points!" Juliana chuckled. "I don't know enough about Nidoking that I would've ever been able to guess that! I didn't even know what it looked like before this game!"

"But that's the fun of Who's That Pokémon!" Nemona proclaimed. "You get to learn so many cool new things about Pokémon just by playing it over and over!"

As the friends all laughed at the fun of playing games together, Arven sat back and took a deep sigh. For another moment, he allowed himself to reflect.

"You want to know something weird?"

They all turned to him.

"Is it strange that I feel… relieved?"

"Relieved?" Juliana repeated.

"Yeah. Like…" Arven folded his arms on the table. "Like I finally got the closure I needed."

Now they were looking at him curiously.

"I mean… you guys know I've had problems with my dad my whole life. Never feeling like he was there for me, never played with me or anything. I thought he was just obsessed with his research and never thought about me."

He gazed around at all the research papers and photographs on the desk, many of them now buried under game boards and card piles.

"But now I see what he was really doing… why he never came back… and how much he did think about me. And, I don't know." Arven's head slumped onto his arms. "I can't even make myself feel angry towards him anymore. I don't feel like there's any reason to."

"I guess that means you're healing," Juliana shrugged.

"That, or you miraculously just jumped to the fifth stage of grief, acceptance," Penny snarked.

Arven chuckled. He caught sight of another picture on the desk… and this time, he scowled a little.

"I mean, really, what's there to blame him for? At least he actually stayed in my life in some kind of way… unlike mom."

He placed a hand over this picture, and everyone leaned over to look at it.

Nemona was shocked.

"Arven, is… is that your mom?"

"Yeah…"

The picture, which seemed to be taken in the Great Crater, showed Professor Turo, smiling with a woman by his side. This woman was wearing a scientist's coat like him, but unlike his futuristic mesh suit, she had on a strange outfit that made her look like a cavewoman. She had striking cyan eyes and light auburn hair that she wore long and combed back.

"Awwww, she's beautiful!"

"She looks… more like you than your dad does," Juliana noticed.

"She is extremely pretty…" Penny commented. "You've never talked about your mom. … In fact, come to think about it, nobody has. But… she was a scientist too?"

"Yeah. She and my dad actually got their doctorates at the same time, and she was working as his assistant in the Great Crater. That's how they met, and I guess how they fell in love."

"But… then what happened?"

Arven just threw up his hands.

"She left. Nothing more to it than that. Like, just a couple years after I was born, I think. She just up and abandoned both me and dad, and neither of us ever heard from her again. The only thing my dad ever told me is that they disagreed over his research, and she couldn't handle it anymore. So yeah, bye-bye, mom. Thanks for nothing."

Everyone looked forlorn with this information. Nemona softly put her hand on his arm.

"I'm… sorry, Arven. I never knew any of this stuff. That's awful what she did. No wonder you've always been such a gloomy pepper."

Arven wanted to bristle at her using that nickname again, but instead it brought a strange laugh of levity from him.

"It's fine. It's really fine. Maybe someday, like many years from now, I'll track her down and have the chance to ask why she walked out on us when I needed her. But…" He took one last look at the picture and just tossed it back down. "Right now, she doesn't want to be a part of my life. So… I'm not going to waste any of my anger on her. I'm just going to write my own story from here on out!"

He said that with a newfound sense of resolve, pumping his fist out as Mabosstiff barked eagerly for him.

"Wuff! Wuff!"

"Awww! There's our Pepper!" Nemona clammed.

He groaned. "Clam up already, Nemo."

"Hmph," Nemona grumbled. "Throw the book at me for trying to lift you up."

Juliana and Penny laughed. The pair's seemingly endless barbs for each other had brought everyone back down to earth again.

"I'm proud of you, Arven," said Juliana. "You're really grabbing your own life by the reins now. I want to be just like you."

"Awwww! Thanks, little buddy," Arven reciprocated, placing his arm on her hand. "But that's not a hard dream at all! Look at you, being Champion and everything. You basically are your own gal now!

"Yeah!" Nemona agreed. "Nobody's pulling your strings, Juliana!"

Juliana giggled. "Well gee, I don't know about that."

"You're the protagonist."

"What?"

"You're the protagonist… of your own story," Penny clarified. "Sorry, I was—I was thinking in manga terms."

Juliana started giggling again.

"Hey Penny, why haven't you ever invited me to your room to watch anime together?"

Penny looked shocked. "You'd—you'd be up for that?"

"Of course!"

"Nobody's ever wanted to sit and discuss anime with me! Well, now that I know that, I could show you all my favorite sho—"

They were interrupted by a knock at the open door.

All of them turned to see Director Clavell standing there.

"Please forgive my intrusion," he said. "How are you all holding up?"

"We're doing fine," Penny answered.

"I'm feeling great, actually!" Arven assured him.

"Me too!" Juliana agreed.

"Me three!" Nemona chimed in.

"Good, good," Clavell smiled. He cleared his throat. "Miss Juliana?"

"…Yes?"

"I'm very sorry to disturb while you're having an intimate session with your friends. But… I'd like to borrow you for just a moment of your time. We have a visitor to our academy. And he'd very much like to meet you, if you wouldn't mind stepping into my office."

"Me?" Juliana pointed to herself in surprise. "Really?"

"Yes. It would appear he has something very special to discuss with you."

"Ooooh, our Juliana's becoming famous!" Nemona gushed. "It might be a talent scout for some super elite battling competition or something!" Then her face fell. "…But if that's the case, why didn't they ask for me?"

Director Clavell lightly chuckled. "I'm afraid it is something only open to Juliana."

Juliana stood up, feeling flattered and excited for whatever was in store for her. But then she looked unsure as she gazed at her friends, wondering if it was okay to exit this moment.

Arven, seeming to sense her hesitation, shooed her with his arms as he smiled.

"Go on, go! We're fine here!"

"Yeah, go see what kind of surprise you've got!" Nemona encouraged her.

"Thanks, guys. I'll be right back!"

Juliana quickened her pace as she made her way through the lobby. She looked upwards, trying to remember which floor Director Clavell's office was on.

She was so distracted trying to remember the way that she wasn't looking in front of her, and…

"Oof!"

…immediately bumped into someone.

"Great galloping Rapidash! Are you okay, miss?"

Juliana picked herself up from stumbling over and shook her head to recompose herself.

"Yeah… I am so, so sorry, mister! I wasn't looking where I was going!"

She looked up at her inadvertent human obstacle and was astonished to see a well-dressed man, tan-skinned, wearing a fancy white jacket with blue lapels over a black shirt and a red tie with a unique but strangely familiar looking badge on it. He also donned a fancy scarf and an even fancier white fedora.

"Ha-ha! Well, I won't hold it against you, kid!" he replied in a jolly manner. "Perhaps I'm the one who shouldn't be standing in the middle of an open atrium in an academy full of such busy students!" He took a good look at Juliana and tilted his head. "Hmmm…"

"Is something wrong, sir?"

"It's just, I know I've seen your face somewhere before!" The interesting man closed his eyes and tried to recall. "…Who were you again?"

"Ummm, well I'm… pretty sure I've never met you before, sir. But…" She bowed politely and introduced herself. "My name's Juliana."

The man's eyes shot up.

"Oooh, that's right, you're Juliana! Yes, yes, I know you!"

"You do?" Juliana replied, looking confused.

"Of course I do!"

He took off his fancy hat and flipped it in his hands a few times before draping it back on.

"Well then! Now that you're here, let's get going!"

Juliana stepped back. "Uhh—what!? Go… go where?"

She started looking around, wondering if she had just gotten into a conversation with an… unsavory character, when—

"Wait! Wait just a moment, Director Cyrano!"

Juliana heard Director Clavell's voice, and sure enough, she watched him frantically run down the stairwell to meet the two of them in the center, with Geeta following behind.

"Oh-ho! Hello there, Velly!" the man waved over to him. "You're as lively as always! Didn't realize you were here!"

"Of course I'm here! As director of this academy, where else would I be?" Clavell sighed as he marched up to the pair. "And do address me more properly while students are present, would you?"

"I thought you told me we were going to meet the Director and Juliana inside your office," said Geeta.

"Yes, I thought I had made that abundantly clear too."

"Did we? Must've slipped my mind!"

Clavell's unknown associate chuckled nonchalantly like it was no big deal. This just earned an expression of pure exasperation that Juliana had never seen from the Director before. She watched this whole exchange, still very confused at what was going on.

"Anyway, what's it matter? This is the student, right?"

"Well… yes, she is, but… I haven't even had the chance to explain anything to her yet."

Clavell sighed and faced Juliana.

"I do apologize, Miss Juliana. You must be terribly confused."

"Uhhh, yeah, a little!" Juliana awkwardly chuckled.

"This man here is Director Cyrano," Clavell explained. "He runs everything over at Blueberry Academy, which as you may remember is our newly christened sister school."

"Yep! That's me, Director Cyrano!" he nodded. "Err… did I not mention that?"

Juliana smiled sheepishly.

"One look at our young friend here makes me suspect you indeed failed to clarify that point," Clavell observed, pushing up his glasses.

Juliana put her hand out. "It's nice to meet you, Mister—" Then her eyes widened. "Wait… did you say—Blueberry Academy!?"

"Ha-ha, that's right!" Cyrano joyfully replied, accepting her handshake with such force Juliana felt her arm jiggling around. "I see my fancy school's reputation precedes itself!"

"Juliana is one of the students who got attend our schools' joint field trip to Kitakami," Geeta informed him. "The one that your Ms. Briar chaperoned."

"Is that right? Well, that means you probably met a couple of my exceptionally trained students!"

"That's right, sir, I did!" Juliana replied excitedly. "They're friends of mine!"

Clavell laughed boisterously. "Well, isn't that just tootin'! Oh, they're going to be so excited to see you then!"

"Huh?" Now Juliana was really confused. "Wh— what do you mean by that?"

"Perhaps I should explain," said Clavell, deciding to step in. "You see Juliana, my long-time associate Cyrano here is interested in accepting you as an exchange student."

Now Juliana really stepped back. Her eyes went wide as saucers.

"Wait, WHAT!?" she exclaimed. "Yo—you want me, as a student at—at Blueberry!?"

"Hee-hee!" Cyrano grinned. "Wouldn't have flown all the way here from Unova if I didn't!"

"Speaking of which… Why did you request Miss Juliana specifically to take part in your exchange program?" Geeta wondered.

"If I'm understanding correctly, her name came up on one of your student surveys, yes?" said Clavell.

"Yes, yes, that's right! Now I remember!" Cyrano replied. "Indeed, one of our own students submitted Juliana's name here as a recommendation for the exchange program! Once I saw that, and got your glowing recommendation of her over the phone Velly, I was more than happy to accept her!"

Juliana gasped. "Wait, so… somebody at Blueberry asked for me to come?"

"What was this student's name?" Clavell opined.

"Excellent question, Velly! It's very simple. You see, it was none other than… than…" Cyrano took off his hat in that moment and tried to think. "…Uh, hm. Who WAS it that sent that in?"

"Don't tell me…"

"I'm sorry, Velly. I've plan forgotten what their name was." He turned to Juliana. "But you just said that you've got friends over at my Blueberry Academy, right? Then I'm sure we can assume it was one of them!"

"Y-yeah, must've been!"

Juliana immediately rattled through her brain, wondering who it could be that wanted her at Blueberry all of a sudden. She forced herself to remember her last encounters with both Carmine and Kieran.

Kieran… Well, to say that they had parted on bad terms would be the understatement of the century. The last time she saw him, he was so upset about Ogerpon choosing Carmine instead of him that he ran away crying.

Carmine's letter didn't mention him at all, which Juliana remembered she found surprising. She had no idea at all what he was up to now, or how he was feeling after all this time. Could he have asked her to come because he felt guilty and wanted to make amends for everything that happened?

But then there was Carmine.

Juliana remembered how upset Carmine had been that the two of them had to say goodbye. She was holding back from crying the whole time they were saying their farewells to each other. Juliana remembered how gut-wrenching it was…

And she had missed both of the siblings quite a lot since then, with the smallest things making her think about them. Especially Carmine.

That's right… Juliana remembered. Carmine wanted to tell me something, just before we both had to leave…

Remembering that moment, she also realized the key to everything: Carmine had also told Juliana she wanted her to visit Blueberry Academy as soon as possible!

"There's tons of strong Trainers! You'd fit right in! You won't regret it!"

And her brain danced around even more realizing that "soon" had just turned into right now!

"…You still with us, darling?"

She was brought out of her thoughts by Cyrano's voice.

"Uhh, yes sir! Sorry!"

"Well, as I was saying... Now that I've gotten to meet you for myself… yeah, I've got a good feeling about you."

"Oho! I'm glad to hear that, Director Cyrano!" Clavell was very pleased.

"I'd just love for you to visit my school, Juliana!" Cyrano addressed her. "You would be a breath of fresh air, so to speak!"

"You… you really mean it?" Juliana's heart was beating really fast now and she didn't know why.

"Well, if anything can be said about Director Cyrano, it's that he has a keen eye for talent!" Clavell vouched. "I would be thrilled if you went to Blueberry Academy and got to know the students there."

"As would I, very much so," Geeta chimed in. "Our partnership with Blueberry Academy is still in its junior stages, and having a Uva student, a Champion Rank one no less, join among the classes at Blueberry would be immensely helpful in strengthening the bond between our two schools."

Clavell cleared his throat. "But only if you're willing to, of course. Think of it as a chance to further expand upon your Treasure Hunt!"

"There's plenty to learn about battling over there, and plenty of students who'll want to battle ya!" Cyrano added. "We've even got our own little BB League, with an Elite Four and everything!"

"Oh my gosh…" Juliana was cupping her hands to her cheeks, struggling to contain all these feelings building up inside her. "I—I can't believe this is happening! This is the adventure I've been hoping for! More battles!? Another Elite Four!? Of course I'd love to go!" she said very enthusiastically.

"STUPENDOUS!" Cyrano exclaimed in delight, startling poor Clavell so much his glasses almost popped off his face.

Geeta stifled another soft giggle in the background.

She said quietly to Juliana, "I've only met Director Cyrano over video calls thus far, and heard stories about him from Director Clavell over the years. I must admit, watching the two of them interact is… unique and fascinating."

Juliana giggled back.

"Well, then…" Clavell cleared his throat yet again. "Now that we know this is happening for certain, it's time we start talking about the logistics of everything. We'll still have to contact Miss Juliana's mother for permission, which I have no doubt she'll give, and—"

As the adults conversed over all the boring matters of this exchange, Juliana stood there and couldn't help gushing to herself.

I'm going to Blueberry… I'm really, really going there… I'm going to have awesome battles, and see my friends again! I can't believe it!

Even this morning, the odds that she was ever going to get the chance to reunite with her Kitakami friends, especially this soon, seemed slim to none.

But just like that, it was suddenly a reality. She was going to see all those faces again!

She imagined Kieran, how shy and quiet he had been when she first met him, always hiding behind those thick black-and-purple bangs, and yet he eagerly wanted to become friends with her right away and they got to explore so many cool places together.

She remembered Ogerpon…

That's right! I get to see Ogerpon again!

Juliana remembered how Ogerpon was one of the cutest, most adorable little creatures she had ever met. The small Pokémon had been watching over her ever since she stepped foot into Kitakami, and it—no, that's right, she!—entrusted Juliana to return her beloved Teal Mask to her.

And together with Carmine, they had a grand quest to retrieve the other Masks, defeat those Lousy Three, and clear her wrongfully vilified name! It was one of the most thrilling experiences of her life, even rivalling the mission in Area Zero!

And then there was Carmine…

The tall. Pretty. Gorgeous. Gorgeous? Well, yeah… And so very unique girl. Kieran's extremely protective sister with an explosive temper.

She seemed so mysterious and stand-offish at first. But Juliana was so determined to break down her walls and become her friend, that Carmine revealed herself as someone actually filled with love and compassion for others. So much so even Ogerpon recognized it in her.

Her beautiful black-and-red hair. Those striking yellow eyes, still the most captivating eyes Juliana had ever known. That beauty mark Juliana only noticed right at the end of their trip.

And that one smile of hers…

It didn't happen often, but when it did, she would beam at Juliana in just the right way that Juliana remembered it made her heart feel all warm and fuzzy.

Her sweet, nurturing smile came into Juliana's head all the time, almost as if she was imagining it every time she started feeling down.

Just picturing it now was making those feelings rise up in her again. What was it about that girl, that made her feel so many wonderful things that even the rest of her friends didn't quite match up to?

The rest of my friends…

Then her heart began to slow down. The gushing stopped.

And Juliana's feet landed on earth again, as she remembered what she had just come out of.

Arven. Nemona. Penny.

Her friends, all dealing with their own issues… All dependent on her to cheer them up and help them out in their goals.

Carmine and Kieran hopefully still had each other, and Ogerpon too.

But my friends here… I even told them I'd be right back.

Juliana's gut began to sink.

…What kind of awful friend would I be if I said that and then headed off to a whole nother region?

"Wait!" she suddenly called out.

Cyrano, Clavell, and Geeta all turned to her, surprised by the sudden outburst.

"I… I can't go."

Their eyebrows all flared up.

"I… beg your pardon?" said Cyrano. "Are you sure? An opportunity like this won't present itself very often, y'know."

"Ummm…"

Juliana hated with every fiber of her being that she was about to say this. She knew what direction her heart wanted her to go in. But in her mind, she was completely torn up.

"Mr. Cyrano… Thank you so much for offering this opportunity to me. I'm really, really touched that you want me at your school. But… it's just—my friends…"

Her head sank down. Clavell perked up. In that moment, he seemed to understand.

"Of course. You'd be a whole world apart from your friends, who I know you've come to treasure dearly…"

"That's right." Juliana's eyes started to water as she forced herself to look up. "And they need me. I want to go. I want to really, really badly… but, I can't abandon my friends. I'm sorry, Mr. Cyrano. But I'm needed here. I hope you understand."

A huge part of her still felt like she was making the wrong choice, but Juliana stood firm. She knew there would be plenty of time to regret this later.

"My darling…"

Cyrano took off his hat again… and looked at her with a proud smile.

"Of course I understand. Nothing in this whole, wide world is more important than our friends and the bonds we make with them. Isn't that right, Velly?"

Clavell cleared his throat once again. "Yes. Quite."

Smiling at Juliana, Cyrano continued. "It's a real shame. I was over the moon and back to have you come join us at my Blueberry Academy, Juliana. But… it's your own life, and I just want everyone to do what makes them happy."

"Indeed," Geeta admitted. "It's always vital for each of us to take stock of what's important to us, and I'm glad you're doing that, and continuing being a role model, Champion Juliana."

"I hope you and your friends continue to have a bunch of AMAZING adventures here at this Academy!" said Cyrano.

Juliana smiled, glad to know Cyrano wasn't upset.

"Thank you, sir. Trust me, I will."

"HOLD UP A SECOND!"

All of them were startled by that sudden yell. Juliana was shocked even more to see Arven run up into the center of the lobby.

"I better not have just heard what I thought I did!" he barked, shaking his fists and seething.

"Huh? Arven?"

Then she noticed Penny and Nemona both run up behind Arven.

"Guys? What are you all doing here?"

"I'm sorry…" Penny uttered, out of breath. "I guess we're really bad at not spying on our friends…"

"But it's a great thing we did!" Nemona declared. "Our sweet friend Juliana is about to make the biggest mistake of her life! Aye-yi-yi, girl!"

"I'll say!" Arven was still simmering in disbelief. "Getting to go to a whole different school, learning a bunch of awesome new things and having wonderful new experiences for yourself! And you're going to turn all that down!? Are you out of your mind, Jules!?"

"Are uhh… are these the friends she's talking about?" Cyrano quietly asked the two Uva faculty heads. They both nodded to him.

Juliana was flustered at this unexpected reception from her friends.

"But—but… I can't leave you guys behind."

"I don't believe what I'm hearing right now!" Arven snapped back. "Don't you remember everything I told you when we were in that one Titan's den? About how I want you to stop moping and thinking you're being selfish for wanting to go on your own adventures? You've got your own life to live, little buddy! It's time for you to be the commander of your own ship!"

"And what an adventure!" Nemona raved. "I mean… Blueberry Academy!? I'm so jealous of you right now, Juliana! Remember, I told you the students there are on a whole different level when it comes to Pokémon battles? And there's so many amazing Pokémon over there, some of them are literally stronger than steel!"

She started shaking an overwhelmed Juliana by the shoulders. "You spend a whole semester over there, and come back, and I'm going to have an even STRONGER rival for life. I'm probably going to have to rise to meet your level!"

"Okay, student council girl. Maybe let the poor girl breathe for a minute there."

Juliana released herself from her excited friend's gasp and laughed, more so to regain herself than anything.

Yeah, I—I get it, Nemona! I get it! But… what about you guys?"

"Let me worry about myself for a change!" Arven responded. "I told you, I'm feeling great now! I'm going to put the past behind me and just focus on myself. I've got a bunch more classes that are going to take up my whole mind now and you know what? I'm… I'm actually excited for it!"

"Yeah! And I'm totally doing fine too!" said Nemona. "I know I told you about how starving I was for battles before you came around, but now that the Academy Ace Tournament is a thing—"

"You mean the School Battle Brawl?" Arven smiled like a troll.

"You, shut up. Now I'm getting all the battles I could ever want, and so many more students here are serious about levelling themselves up and having fun battles! I'll be just fine! In fact, I'll be spending all this time training myself up just to take you on again when you do come back!"

"And… you, Penny?" She turned to her last bespectacled friend. "What about our anime night?"

Penny just giggled. "My anime shows aren't going anywhere. We can do that as soon as you get back. I'll be fine. It'll just be me and my Veevees. Oh! And my friends at Team Star, of course!"

"Gee…"

Juliana really didn't know what to do now. Her heart was feeling heavy, and she felt very conflicted.

"I still, really have to think about this…"

Penny walked forward and decided to speak up more.

"Can I… say something, if it's alright?"

"Of course," Juliana nodded.

"That friend of yours," Penny recalled. "The one you talked about on the night that we battled. Isn't… she one of your friends over at Blueberry?"

Juliana had a big gulp in her throat as she nodded.

"That's right… she is."

"Oh, yeah! Carmine!" Nemona remembered. "See, I remembered her name this time!"

"You said that you guys lost contact after the trip in Kitakami ended," Penny reminded her. "And you said she's been through a lot of bullying herself and that you want to know she's okay. Right?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, isn't this the perfect opportunity for you guys to catch up?" Penny smiled softly. "Y'know, I don't know if it's obvious to anyone else, but… it's been pretty clear to me that you miss her a whole lot."

"Really?" Juliana replied. "That's… that obvious?"

"Well, you did gush about her a lot when you came back from Kitakami," Nemona recalled.

"Yeah and… you looked so happy when you were reading her letter," said Penny. "You were actually… kind of adorable about it! I almost thought you were in love or something."

Juliana reared back. "Whoa! I'm—not in love with her! I just… You're right. You're both right, she's probably as big a friend to me as you guys are. And I… I really have missed her a lot. Her, and Kieran… and Ogerpon too."

"Then no more buts!" said Arven. "You're going on that trip, Jules! I won't ever forgive you if you don't!"

"Yeah! Me neither!" Nemona chimed in.

"I mean… It's still your choice and all, but yeah…" Penny timidly replied.

Juliana stood there for quite a while, her mouth agape.

"Guys…"

Then, she began huffing. And to her friends' distress, she balled up her hands over her face as tears began to stream down.

"Aye!?" Nemona shouted.

"Hey, we're sorry…" Arven immediately apologized. "We didn't mean to make you feel so pressured…"

"No, no, it's okay," Juliana blubbered, smiling through all the tears. "They're happy tears. I love you guys so much. You're the best friends I could ever, ever ask for."

Geeta thought quickly and dug a silk handkerchief out of her pocket for Juliana to blow her nose with.

"Thank you, La Primera."

"My pleasure."

"You guys… I helped you out so many times, with the Titans and with Team Star… and now you all just saved me." She burst out a crying giggle. "You're right, that would've been so stupid of me and I would've regretted it forever. I… I want to go to Blueberry Academy. Of course I do!"

"Finally! There's my best friend!" Nemona beamed. "Now say it again! With more gravitas!"

"I want to go to Blueberry Academy!"

"Not just want! You ARE going to Blueberry Academy!" Arven commanded. "And that's final!"

"I AM going to Blueberry Academy!"

"Again! LOUDER!" Nemona yelled out, so loud she was beginning to attract attention from the other students nearby.

Juliana, all bursting with energy like a bottle rocket about to explode, swiveled back around to Director Cyrano and proudly declared…

"I'M GOING TO BLUEBERRY ACADEMY!"

"YES!" Nemona screamed out.

"Wooo-hooo-hooo! What a show!" Cyrano gushed, ready to burst with energy too. "Now we're in business! I owe you kids a million!" he raved to Juliana's three pals. "Thanks for setting your friend on the right track! Why don't we keep this excitement train a-flowing and head over there right now!?"

"Wait, really!?" Juliana gasped out in excited surprise. "We can really leave right now!?"

She quickly turned back to her friends.

"I mean, as long as you're all cool with that…"

"Of course we are!" Arven said, beaming a wide smile.

"Now stop arguing and just go already!" said Nemona, pumping her fist in the air.

"Yeah, just… just go have fun," Penny smiled. "You're so incredibly lucky, Juliana."

Geeta and Clavell's faces however, flew up in alarm.

"Now—now wait just a minute!" Clavell jumped in. "You're talking about leaving THIS VERY MOMENT!? What about everything we just talked about, with getting her mom on the phone, and accommodations, and Juliana needing time to pack…"

"Not to mention all the paperwork that needs to be completed," said Geeta.

"We can take care of all that paperwork on the way!" said Cyrano. "That's what video calls are for, right? And I thought you just said her mom will be cool with it!"

"She will! My mom's awesome, I know she won't have a problem!" Juliana piped up, still energized. "A-and packing won't take me very long at all! I'll do it super quickly and be ready to go!"

"Ya see, folks!? I like you a lot, Juliana! Finally, someone who flows at my speed!"

Geeta put a finger to her face as she huffed indignantly.

"This is all so very unorthodox…" she grumbled. "But… if Juliana is insistent on it and serious about being ready to go, then… fine. I was hoping for at least a week to get all of the documentation sorted out with this exchange program and how crediting is going to work."

Taking a big sigh, she placed one hand on her hip and worked to maintain a calm face.

"It shouldn't be too much of an issue if I can put my top man on it. Larry is very diligent with tight deadlines. I'm sure he won't mind all the extra work. Very well."

"YAAAAY!"

Much to Geeta's surprise, Juliana embraced her in a huge hug while jumping up and down like a little girl.

"THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!"

All Geeta could do was chuckle and pat Juliana's head warmly. At this moment, the girl charmingly reminded her much of Poppy.

"Hey, how about some love for your pal Arven!?"

"Oh, guuuuys!"

"BRING IT HERE!" Nemona shouted, holding her arms out.

Juliana, gasping in excitement and bliss, let go of Geeta and ran over. She practically glomped all of her friends as they embraced her in a huge group hug.

Geeta tried to wipe off the excess from her coat as she turned to Clavell.

"I don't know about you, but I'm going to need more coffee."

Clavell chuckled with a light grin. "I did warn you about Cy and his eccentricities."

"This will be quite a partnership…"

Juliana had tears streaming down her face again as she found herself surrounded by all her happy, loyal friends.

"You guys are the best. I'm going to miss you so much."

"Friends to the end?" said Nemona.

"Friends to the end!" Juliana laughed. "I love you all to the moon and back."

"Just don't forget about us," said Penny.

"What, are you kidding? Never!"

"You should write back to us every once in a while," said Arven.

"Or just call us!" said Nemona. "You have all our numbers, right? I want to hear about all the super-strong Pokémon you meet over there!"

"Oooh! And let me know if you find any really super-duper cute ones," Penny chimed in.

"Forget about strong or cute, let me know about the strangest ones you find," said Arven. "I love Pokémon that are weird little dudes!"

"Of course, of course!" said Juliana.

Juliana's mind was a whole jumble of emotions now. On the one hand, she wouldn't be seeing any of her Paldea friends for who knows how long. She'd be in an unfamiliar new land, surrounded by students she doesn't know and Pokémon she's probably never met before.

But…

She was about to see all of her other friends again.

Kieran… Ogerpon… Carmine.

They were all waiting for her.

And Juliana smiled from cheek to cheek. She could hardly wait either.

Juliana's face was also smiling from cheek to cheek on the photo taped to the wall.

The headline on the cut-out article read "UP-AND-COMING UVA PRODIGY SETS NEW RECORD FOR YOUNGEST TRAINER TO ACHIEVE CHAMPION RANK IN PALDEA".

-BAM- -BAM- -BAM-

"Huff… huff… huff…"

There was a red circle drawn on the clipped article with marker, with red arrows pointing to Juliana's face.

These arrows also covered the photos taped around the article… the different pictures Juliana and Kieran had snapped together while standing in front of the signboards in Kitakami.

-BAM- -BAM- -BAM-

"Huff… huff… huff…"

And Kieran was in the center of the room, beating away on his punching bag again.

Between jabs, he would shoot another glance at his makeshift wall of Juliana over his desk. His face was sweating, and red. Not just from exhaustion… but from his anger.

"Huff… huff… You just keep on getting… everything you want…" he sneered. "While I'm… constantly… getting… NOTHING!"

With huge force, he slammed his knuckles hard into the bag. The bag finally couldn't take any more abuse, and ripped a hole, causing grits to spill out onto the floor.

Kieran groaned in frustration.

"Now look what you made me do."

He walked over to his desk and searched through his drawers for masking tape. This brought him face-to-"face" with Juliana, and his eyes pierced into her image.

He started snarling so hard he was gritting his teeth.

"I can't wait to see you again someday… just so I can wipe that smile off your face."

NEXT TIME… A BLUE BEGINNING!

Chapter Text

"GOOOOOOOOOD MORNING, BLUEBERRY ACADEMY!

This is your morning announcer for the day, Jazzy! How are we feeling, Blueberries? I'm here with the A/V club to bring you all of today's exciting news and announcements on campus, as well as fresh entertainment!

It is a gorgeous day today in the pristine region of Unova! No humidity, clear skies, and sunny weather expected all the way to evening! Who could ask for a better forecast?

Of course, most of you will likely be enjoying the simulated temperatures of our one-of-a-kind Terrarium, but take a moment to head out into the entrance to enjoy that crisp, fresh air. And maybe have a battle or two there!

Speaking of battles, we've just received word that current rankings from this season's BB League circuit should be posted online by the end of the week!

Calculations were being hampered by uhh… more rotations happening in the League's roster. The BB League extends their sincere apologies for the week-long delay.

But hey! In lighter news, we're still seeing new faces coming in from Blueberry's exciting exchange program that started this week! We've got new transfer students joining us from all over! I'm talking Sinnoh, Johto, Alola, and even as far away as Kalos! Bonjour and Alola to all our new friends!

And here's something cool! For the first time ever, we're hosting an extremely gifted student from the Paldea region's own Uva Academy! That's right, the birthplace of the Terastal phenomenon itself! Maybe we can all learn a thing or two about Tera Types from our new longfaring classmate!

We've also got news to share about new clubs starting up, special events being hosted in Agriculture and Musical Arts, and studying tips for the upcoming midterm exams! All right after today's jam session featuring the latest song from Project Voltage!

But before we get to any of that, it's the Blueberry Legends Tidbit of the Day where we share extraordinary advice and battle stories from some of the world's hottest Trainers! Today's scorching battle tip comes from our own Unovan-born master of the dark arts!

BLUEBERRY LEGENDS #54!

"Pokémon battles are like a sophisticated game of chess. It's not just about what your next move will be, but anticipating the opponent's move as well.

Of course, your opponent will also be anticipating your next move, so you must then anticipate how they will anticipate your move as well.

It's quite a lot like gambling! Err- In a metaphorical sense anyway. …Mm, maybe cut that part out."

GRIMSLEY, Retired Elite Four of Unova, Founder of the Grim Tidings Dojo of Dark Arts, and Accomplished Mantine Surfer.

Juliana and Cyrano's cart traveled down a long, clear tube that stretched out over the Unovan sea, extending out from the port in Castelia City where their plane landed.

The tube traveled several kilometers offshore towards the site where Director Cyrano told her Blueberry Academy awaits. The top of the tube measured just inches below the surface, meaning the pair were treated to an immense underwater view of the region's oceans.

Juliana had her eyes fixed on the other side of the glass the whole time riding down. She marveled at the pristine water and all the different species of Pokémon she could see swimming around in it, some of them completely unfamiliar to her.

She gasped in delight as two jellyfish Pokémon swam right up to the glass, one of them blue, the other pink. The two Frillish smiled at her and, in a dazzling show, danced in circles around her head before joining their lacelike tentacles and breaking off. Juliana giggled and clapped for their little performance.

"Looks like the wildlife's already taken a liking to ya!" Cyrano chortled.

"Is this the famous Marine Tube that I've heard so much about, sir?"

"Ha-ha! No, darling, that's on the mainland, over at Undella Bay! But I'm mighty flattered by the comparison! I guess you could say it was a major brush stroke of inspiration for how I saw this tunnelway built!"

"Don't tell Director Clavell I said this, but it sure beats taking a huge set of stairs to get to school every day!" Juliana giggled.

"Yeah, I never really got why Velly and those folks at Uva saw fit to torture you students with such an arduous climb!" Cyrano laughed. "The joys of life at an academy should start with the very first steps you take. That's what I say! Now hold on tight as you can!"

"Huh? Oh."

The cart was coming up on a huge upwards ramp. Juliana gripped on for dear life as Cyrano shifted into higher gear and they began climbing the ramp, which to Juliana felt like going up a roller coaster.

"Wooooaaaaahhhh!"

"How's THAT for an entrance!"

Cyrano laughed heartily as he slowed down and parked the cart to the side of a big black door, alongside another cart.

He and Juliana stepped out and made their way up the big door. Cyrano flashed his keycard up to the keypad next to it, and the door slowly opened.

"Ta-daaa! We're here! Ladies first!" he gestured, taking off his hat and making a show of stepping aside. "Feast your eyes, Juliana!"

"Whoaaaa…"

Past the big door at the end of the tunnel, Juliana took her first steps into the mesmerizing entrance area of Blueberry Academy.

A large gray dome overhung above the area, which spread out over a flat, circular roofed building. Unsurprisingly, considering the school's reputation for intense battle training, the lobby of Blueberry itself served as an electrifyingly blue battle arena with audience stands.

Blueberry students walked to and fro and hung around in the entrance area, wearing variants of the same uniforms Juliana recognized on Carmine and Kieran. She was already seeing new Pokémon accompanying several of her new classmates, including Exeggcute, which she had never seen in the flesh before, and an interesting walking duck-like Pokémon whose red and yellow flaming body made its Fire typing obvious.

"Welcome to my grand Blueberry Academy!" said Cyrano. "What do ya think so far?"

"What do I think!? It's—it's amazing, sir! It already feels so different here compared to Uva!"

"I'm pleased as punch to hear that! And if you think that's cool, just wait!" Cyrano teased. "This is actually just the entrance, because y'see… the school itself is mostly underwater! Isn't that amazing?"

"Underwater… That's right, the pamphlet on the plane said that…" Juliana recalled. "I thought it was just talking about the base of it, though! The WHOLE school!?"

"That's right!" Cyrano laughed, taking off his hat and flipping it around. "The whole dang school!"

Juliana was lost for words.

Why didn't Carmine ever brag about THAT part? That would've been an amazing flex.

She felt a tingle in her heart and smiled at the reminder that she was now at the same school as Carmine.

"Oh—and did you notice?"

"Hmm? You mean the battlefield out front—"

"Look at how BLUE this place is!" Cyrano marveled, staring up at all the deep blue and cerulean-colored structures. "I can't tell you how long I spent picking the perfect blueberry color!"

Juliana chuckled at her new Director's excitable personality.

"It's… it is very blue!"

I'd say our academy is a lot more obsessed with the color purple, not that that's a bad thing. Purple's been one of my favorite colors lately… but maybe that's just the Academy brainwashing me. Maybe I'll leave here with a new appreciation for blue!

Cyrano noticed her fanning herself. "That crisp Unova air already makin' you sweat?"

"It's so fascinating how it can be so warm in this region when it's getting colder in Paldea. I really am far from home."

"Ha-ha! The seasons in Unova do tend to shift all crazy-like! Just when you think it's still summer, the leaves start falling! Enjoying this fine winter? Next week, all the snow in Icirrus City might melt! If you don't like the weather here, just wait a month! That's what we all say in Unova!" he laughed. "Let's see now, what else?"

Cyrano hemmed and hawed for a moment, before realizing he was sort of out of things to gloat about, and that his new student was still staring at him expectantly.

"Uhh… perhaps you have something you'd like to ask me?"

"Hmm…"

Juliana had a few questions she went over in her head, like why the rest of the school was underwater, how Cyrano knew Director Clavell… or why he referred to him as "Velly".

But she figured there was plenty of time to seek out the answers to those, so she instead went for the most burning question in her mind.

"Why did you pick 'blueberry' for the name?"

Cyrano was a bit nonplussed. "Really? That's what you're curious about? You're full of surprises, aren't ya?"

"That's what a lot of people say about me," Juliana smiled.

"Hmm, why it's called 'Blueberry'." Cyrano held his head back and tried to think. "Well, it's very simple. You see, it's... uhh..."

Then Juliana heard a girly giggle, and saw a very pretty girl, both her hair and her dress sense screaming all things pink, walking up to them.

"It's because, in the language of flowers, the blueberry is said to represent a fruitful life. I think that's where it came from, right?"

"Yes, exactly! Took the words right out of my mouth!" Cyrano replied, turning to greet his student. "Always on point, aren't you, Lacey?"

Lacey? Juliana felt like she'd heard that name somewhere.

The girl, Lacey, smiled sweetly and replied, "Oh no, it was nothing… aaaand who do we have over here?"

Then she turned Juliana's way, making Juliana's heart thump. It felt just like meeting Nemona all over again.

Are tall girls really my weakness…?

She wondered why meeting Carmine wasn't like that, and realized she was probably too jolted by Carmine's sudden ambush maneuver to be immediately taken in by her beauty.

"Hellooooo?"

Sge was taken out of her thinking by Lacey's call.

"Ahh, s-sorry!" Juliana stammered.

"Hee-hee, it's okay!" she giggled.

"This spunky young miss is part of the exchange program, Lacey. So make her feel welcome, eh?"

Lacey gasped. "Hold on! This is the exchange student from the Paldea region!?"

"Yeah, t-that's right!" Juliana replied.

Lacey extended her hand for a handshake, which Juliana accepted.

"Guess I'm the first friendly face you get to meet here, then! I'm Lacey, one of the second-year students here!"

"It's wonderful to meet you, Lacey!" she grinned. "My name's Juliana!"

"Then it's a pleasure to meet you too, Ju— Wait!"

Lacey's hand dropped and her eyes suddenly went wide, startling Juliana.

"Your—your name's Juliana!? And you're really from Paldea!?"

"Y-yeah?"

Juliana became even more confused as this Lacey girl started looking at her differently. Her eyes gazed up and down now like she was scanning Juliana's whole body.

"No way…" She sounded, almost like she was in awe. "I don't believe it. You're—you're really here…"

"Umm…"

Then Lacey's awestruck expression became a peachy smile again.

"Sorry! You're just… not who I expected to see today, that's all! But it's… wow! It's so nice to finally meet you in the flesh, Juliana!"

"Thanks?" Juliana answered, now very flustered. "So you… know me already?"

"Well yeah—of course!" Lacey nodded. "You're quite the prodigy over in your Uva Academy, aren't you? The girl who became a Champion in just a few months of being a Trainer? You're practically famous to some of us!"

"Ha-ha-ha!" Cyrano threw back his head and laughed. "Why am I not surprised the BB League's been keeping an eye on fierce young Juliana, here? You lot really know a rising legend when you see one, don't you? Now I'm starting to see why you came recommended to me, darling!"

Lacey perked up at that drop of information.

"I'm sorry… did you say Juliana was recommended for this program? You mean to say one of the students requested her specifically?"

"Yeah…" Juliana replied. "That's what I was told, anyway. I was just about to ask if it was you…"

"No, but…" Lacey's eyebrows furrowed. "Huh. ... That's interesting. I wonder who…?"

She seemed to be pondering a mystery for a second, but she decided to let that drop for now and went back to speaking cordially.

"Well, you must be something really special, you know."

"Why's that?"

"It's rare for Director Cyrano to remember the name of a new student."

"Hah! Just call me out, why don't you!" Cyrano shook his head. "Tell you what then! You seem really interested in getting to know this student, and you're a very capable young lady! Why don't you explain how things work around here, Lacey?"

"What?" Lacey's eyes widened again. "You… you want ME to do it!?"

"Well, yeah! You know this tour-guide stuff isn't my strong suit!"

"Well, that's certainly true but…" Lacey looked at Juliana with a bit of a troubled expression. "Still, I imagine there must be someone more suitable than me."

Then she saw Juliana's face, and was upset to see that the girl looked a little hurt.

"Oh!" She gasped and tried to save face. "Please don't take it like—It's not that I don't want to show you around or anything, Juliana! Director Cyrano just… has this bad habit of pushing his duties onto me, you see."

"...Do I?"

"Yes, and it's just not right!" she declared, making an 'X' with her hands.

Juliana snorted louder than she meant to. It was a funny gesture that immediately brought Team Star's "Hasta-la-vistar" greeting to her mind.

"Really letting me have it today, aren't you?" said Cyrano.

Lacey looked away from the two for a second. "I also… don't want to be keeping Juliana, if she really is the Juliana, all to myself on her first day here, because I know that—Mm. Although…" She started to giggle. "Yeah. Yeah, that would be a lot of fun."

Then she swiveled back around and eyed Juliana with a mischievous smile on her face.

"Now that you mention it, this could be my chance to get to know the new student everyone's talking about before anyone else can."

Juliana just reacted with a slightly embarrassed expression, which was beginning to amuse the pink-haired girl at this point, making her giggle again.

"That decides it! I will take on this task!"

"Excellent!"

"Yaaay!" Juliana cheered.

"Now then, let's head straight down this bridge over to the entrance, my new friend!"

"Ha! Right away—Lacey, right?"

"That's my name, sweetie! Don't wear it out!"

Juliana giggled as they started walking. They passed by several more Blueberry students on the way to the arena.

Juliana noticed a few kids looking her way. There were two girls she noticed who were chatting with each other. One of them had pigtails and the other was accompanied by an adorable small green Pokémon with red flowers on its head that looked like a little dancer.

Juliana waved politely to them, which caught the pigtails girl's attention.

"Oh. Hey. Cute outfit. So you're the new exchange student people keep talking about?"

"I sure am!" Juliana cheerily replied, hoisting her Uva Academy bag up.

"Hmm." Then the girl scoffed dismissively. "You don't look that strong…"

Juliana looked a little shocked, as the girls giggled to themselves. She wanted to say something, but decided to leave it alone and keep walking. As she turned her back though, she heard the other girl mutter…

"She's a lot shorter than I expected."

And more giggling.

That's… different from Uva.

Trying not to feel too offended, she ran up alongside Lacey.

"Hey, Lacey…? Do the students here… get along with each other? Most of the time?"

"Mmm, I'd say so, yeah. Why?"

"There's no bullying that goes on here… right?"

Lacey shrugged. "No more than what goes on in any other school, I 'spose."

"You might find one or two of your classmates not trusting a kid from another region, unfortunately," said Cyrano. "But we do try to make sure everyone's getting along right as rain."

"That being said…" Lacey pondered. "One of our clubs, the one I'm in actually, recently underwent some uhh, pretty big changes and I guess not everyone's a fan of them so there has been some tension there lately. But they'll adjust soon enough! And I don't think that's something you're gonna have to worry about anyway."

"Of course, if you ever do run into problems, please don't even hesitate to let me know," Cyrano was sure to mention. "But I think once people see how exceptional your battling talents are, you shouldn't have too much trouble makin' friends around here!"

"Oh yeah! People really love to battle here, don't they?"

"That's right!" Lacey answered. "Our school puts a great deal of emphasis on the art of Pokémon battling."

They had reached the huge battle court in the center of the entrance area.

"We hold official matches on this central court right here at the entrance—and any student can freely utilize this court if it's not otherwise in use. So if you and another student are ever having problems with one another, this isn't a bad place to battle those emotions out! I think it's safe to say that you'll be battling more here than in any other school!"

"Exactly! Couldn't have said it better myself!" Cyrano agreed.

Lacey gazed out over the horizon. "…It's really relaxing here, with the sea breeze blowing over you. Even when no one is battling, you often see students sitting around in the stands."

Juliana looked around and noticed the students lazing about in the stands. At least one of them had a book open, at least.

"This looks like it'd be a great study spot," she observed. "Or at least somewhere to unwind and relax, especially to watch the battles that happen here."

"Oh, oh, oh!" Lacey piped up. "If you think that's cool, there's one other quality of our school that you'll likely find very surprising!"

"What's that?"

Lacey crossed her arms with a cocky smile and said, "Wild Pokémon sometimes Terastallize here!"

A sweatdrop ran down Juliana's amused face.

"Yeah…?"

"Huh? Why are you not—" Then she gasped. "…Oh. I suppose that's not anything special to someone from Paldea… is it?" she realized, looking sheepish.

"How does that work, though?" asked Juliana. "I already knew that you guys get your own Tera Orbs here. But in my school, we were taught that the crystals that grow naturally in the Paldea region are thought to be where Terastallization comes from."

Cyrano piqued Juliana's interest by informing her that Blueberry Academy has developed special technology that allows the Terastal phenomenon to be channeled on the school grounds, although Lacey recommended it would be better to explain that on the lower levels. Whatever that meant.

Then she began to think.

"I've got an idea though, Juliana." With a confident look in her eyes, she said, "If you really want to see how tough our battles are here at this school, maybe you and I should have a little friendly match right here and right now!"

"That's the spirit!" Cyrano said excitedly. "Heh. It's like you read my mind, I was about to suggest the same thing."

"Really?" Juliana said in surprise. "Right now?"

"Yeah!" she said, sounding pumped. "I just—I want to make sure your reputation is legit and that you really are who they say you are. I'm a pretty good battler myself."

"There's our modest Lacey for you!" Cyrano chuckled. "In fact, Lacey here is a member of the Elite Four of the League Club we have going here."

"Really?" Juliana perked up. "You… have your own Elite Four!?"

Lacey grunted in annoyance for some reason.

"To say nothing of the influence of her father—one of the Unova region's famed Gym Leaders!"

"Really!? Which one?" Juliana had seen pictures of the Gym Leaders of Unova once or twice, but she didn't think Lacey particularly reminded her of any of them.

"Hey! That's—that's not important! I want to be judged on my own merits, not just thought of as someone's daughter!" She turned angrily to Cyrano. "I wish you wouldn't go around spreading personal information without asking first! It's just not right!"

She made another 'X' with her hands, which at this point seemed like a tick of hers. Juliana found it adorable and decided she did want to get closer to this Lacey girl.

"Okay… sure! I'll battle you, Lacey!" Juliana wasn't expecting a Pokémon battle right out of the gate, but… she concluded this must be what life at Blueberry is like.

The two readied themselves at the battle court as Lacey decided to set some terms.

"Here at Blueberry Academy, we tend to go for Double Battles!"

"Oh… really?" That made Juliana feel a bit uneasy. "Nobody really does Double Battles in Paldea except for one of the Gym Leaders I faced."

"Well, let's give one a try to get to know each other better!"

Lacey sent out her Pokémon first. Juliana was immediately awestruck.

"Plu-Plu!"

"Min-Min!"

"What are those?" Juliana wondered. "Are they a special form of Pichu or something?"

Lacey giggled. "They do look a lot like Pichu, don't they? These are my cutie-patooties, Plusle and Minun! They're basically built for Double Battles!"

The two electric mouse Pokémon gave each other a high five and took their mirrored battle stances.

"Well, my Pokémon are pretty tough! Just watch and see!"

Juliana tossed out two of her team members from Paldea.

"Tinka-tinka-ton-ton!"

"Glooooo-ahh…"

"Ooooh!" Lacey reacted. "That's a Glimmora, isn't it? How exotic! And…" She gasped in delight. "A Tinkaton! Oh my gosh!" Then she squeed really loud. "I've always wanted to see a Tinkaton up close!"

To Juliana's surprise, she ran over to Juliana's Tinkaton and knelt over in childlike delight.

"Tink?"

"Ohhh, you're so cute I could just squeeze your little cheeks forever! And… and WOW! Your hammer is so much bigger than I'd imagined it was! I'm so jealous now!"

Tinkaton brashly swung her hammer around, showering in the compliments.

As Lacey ran back to her spot, she noted, "I usually use Fairy Types in my battles. Did you pick up on that? Most people seem to right away. Or did you send out Steel and Poison Pokémon by coincidence?"

"Uhhh, so you know most Paldean Pokémon already, huh?" Juliana was a little frightened to know.

Lacey giggled. "In the advanced battle courses, they expect us to have every Pokémon that's registered in the National Pokédex memorized! But I hope you don't take my admiration to mean I'm off my guard, or else that'll be your fatal mistake!"

Plusle and Minun moved first and they both attacked with Discharge, which as a wide-ranging move Juliana found surprising until it turned out their electric moves were actually buffing each other's own abilities, Plusle being powered up by its Lightning Rod and Minun tanking the hit thanks to Volt Absorb, and instead just laying down the hurt on Juliana's Pokémon.

"This is already more than most of the Trainers in Paldea strategize…" she muttered gruffly.

Tinkaton was left paralyzed by the attack and disabled from using its own move, which meant Lacey could quietly catalog that Juliana was intending it to use Gigaton Hammer. Juliana at least hoped that she wouldn't notice as the attacks sent Toxic Spikes shooting out of Glimmora's shell thanks to its unique ability.

"Glimmora! Use Sludge Wave!"

Glimmora unleashed a wave of toxic sludge over the electrified pair, which hit both of them and left Minun afflicted with poison.

"There we go!" Juliana pumped up.

But Lacey was unfettered, and ordered Plusle to use Grass Knot on Glimmora, while Minun hit them with another Discharge.

"Alright, Tinkaton… Let's make it work this time," Juliana stressed. "Go, Gigaton Hammer!"

"Plusle, come back!" Lacey suddenly called out, withdrawing her Plusle as Tinkaton charged up.

"Wha-!?"

Lacey flashed a devilish smile, and sent out her ace Pokémon, an unfamiliar mole Pokémon with a steel plating that looked like a knight's helmet.

"What the…"

Tinkaton unleashed its Gigaton Hammer on the new opponent... who seemed to take the attack like it was nothing!

"No way…!"

"Predicting your opponent's moves is key to winning a battle at this school," Lacey informed her. "I knew not just that you were going to try for Gigaton Hammer again, but since my Minun was already Poisoned, and Plusle was the one being powered up by its partner's Discharge… you saw fit to take it out first. A good strat, but also a very transparent one."

She cleared her throat.

"Oh, and I'm sure you were hoping those little barbs your pretty Glimmora sent out were going to incapacitate my next partner, but my sweetums Excadrill here shrugs those icky things off thanks to its Steel type!"

"Man… you lot really are serious about battles here," said an astounded Juliana, who was increasingly beginning to feel out of her element.

"Oh, you're in for a whole new world of fun, Juliana… So. About your Steel and Poison duo… Do you want to know what Excadrill's other Type is?"

"Uh…"

"Excadrill, sweetie! Let's shake them to their core! And Miss Minun… why don't you give that Earthquake a nice Helping Hand?"

"…Uh-oh."

Juliana could only tell her Pokémon to brace for the inevitable as Excadrill started making the ground rumble…

Everything happened so fast after that.

Tinkaton and Glimmora both fainted, but Juliana sent out both her first grassy partner and her trusty fighting Pokémon, who was able to deflect Lacey's Pokémon with Fake Out followed by a convenient Wide Guard…

And then with the sound of a Tera Orb firing up…

TERA-PO-GOO!

"Mieeeen!"

BOOM!

Excadrill went out in a blaze of red sparks, while Meowscarada made quick work of the remaining Minun. Leaving none.

As the dust settled around them, Juliana heard two girls clapping. She glanced at the stands and saw the same two girls who dismissed her earlier.

"Wow, she held up her own against Lacey…" she heard the pigtails girl whisper. "I guess she really isn't someone to be taken lightly…"

Juliana felt a soft smile forming on her face.

"Well done to both of you!" Cyrano clapped after the battle had ended. "You really battled it out Blueberry-style!"

"Thank you, Director!" said Lacey.

"Yeah, thanks…" Juliana chuckled. She turned to Lacey. "Thank you for the really great battle, Lacey. It was a huge learning experience for sure!"

"Thank you very much! But give some credit to yourself! That last Pokémon of yours really threw us for a loop! And the way you Terastallized it… I'll never underestimate you again."

"Aww, thanks!"

"Oh, it wasn't a compliment," Lacey shook her head. "It's me giving you a warning for the next time we meet on the arena."

"Eh-heh-heh…"

How can someone be so cute also… be really threatening?

"Speaking of style…" Cyrano fished out a bag he collected from the reception lady and held it out for Juliana. "I forgot I had a uniform for you!"

Juliana accepted the vacuum-shrunk bag of clothes and gasped in awe.

"My own Blueberry uniform…"

Director Cyrano and Lacey showed Juliana where her dorm room was, and waited outside as she changed.

Juliana eventually came back out, having traded her Uva Academy duds for her new all-white Blueberry Academy spring uniform. She had a bright smile on her face, pleased with the whole new aura she was feeling from these clothes.

"Well, well! Don't my school's colors look fantastic on you!"

"Awwww! It suits you beautifully!" Lacey complimented.

"Hee-hee, thanks!" Juliana blushed.

With a tiny giggle, Lacey pulled out her Fairy patterned Rotom Phone.

"Now… smile!"

"Huh? Oh!"

Juliana was caught off-guard but quickly put on her best smile as Lacey suddenly snapped a picture of her.

"Thanks!" Lacey grinned. "The students who run the school newspaper wanted a picture of the new exchange student for their article. I hope you don't mind obliging."

"Of course not!" said Juliana. "Hope you got a good shot of me!"

"I think I did! You look very cute here. And… send!" Lacey made a big show of hitting the button. "There we go. That should make someone real happy."

She tucked her phone back in her pocket, not losing her grin all the while.

"Anyway, now that you look the part—and hopefully feel it too—I want to show you the pride of Blueberry Academy: our world-famous Terrarium!"

Juliana's head tilted. "Terrarium? Like in a museum?"

Director Cyrano stifled an amused chuckle.

Lacey giggled. "Ours is a tiny bit… more than just that. Come on and you'll see what I mean!"

Just as they were about to start walking, there was a ping sound.

Lacey checked her phone.

"Oh, good! Looks like your picture was received!"

"Yay!"

She put her phone and they started walking down the hall.

But they only made it a few steps before they heard Lacey's phone again.

And again. And again. And again.

Juliana and Cyrano looked at her curiously. With a sheepish grin, Lacey took her phone out again.

Her eyes looked like they were close to bulging out.

"Ummm… Wow! Heh-heh… you're really making quite the impression, it seems. Anyway, moving along!"

She proceeded to walk on as if nothing had happened. Juliana was a bit perplexed, but shrugged it off.

The three walked down another tunnel. This one didn't seem anywhere near as long as the one Juliana and Cyrano took to get from the airport to the school, and it was only completely encased in darkness, illuminated only by the blue lights along the floor.

Along the way, Lacey asked Juliana a lot of questions. Things about her home life, her friends at school, why she started out on her journey, the sorts of things she treasures most.

"Like… in the world? In people?"

"However you feel!"

Juliana felt rather odd about it.

This feels like taking that League Assessment thing with Rika all over again.

Then, Lacey asked her next question.

"So… is this your first time outside of Paldea since you and your mom moved there?"

"No," Juliana shook her head. "In fact, just a few months ago, I went on that field trip to Kitakami. The one with both of our schools did."

"Ohhhh, yeah! I think I did know that, actually! I think that's where I heard your name from, come to think about it."

Juliana was intrigued.

"Really? Do you… do you know either of the students that were there? Carmine and Kieran?"

Lacey nodded eagerly.

"Yeah, I do know of them! I'm pretty sure Kieran's in one of the clubs that I'm in. And Carmine happens to be one of my classmates."

"Really!?"

"Yeah!"

"Did—did Carmine ever talk about me?"

Lacey's eyes drifted as she seemed to rifle through her memories for an answer.

"Mmmm, yeah! Yeah, I think your name came up, at least a couple of times."

Lacey got a little flustered as Juliana inched closer to her face with her eyes getting all big.

"Well, w-what did she say about me?"

"Would you mind not getting so close to me?" Lacey chuckled.

"Oh—I'm… I'm so sorry!" Juliana backed away, embarrassed.

"It's okay!" said Lacey. It was kind of adorable. "Anyway, I think she said you were very kind… friendly. Helped her out a lot. Went on fun adventures. Things of that nature."

"Aww…" Juliana held a hand to her heart, looking genuinely touched. Lacey smiled too.

"Seems like she really values the time you two spent together."

"That's so cool to hear…" Juliana smiled warmly to herself. "I totally feel the same way. I've been thinking about her a lot, especially because she wrote me a letter not too long ago… It was, it was a really sweet letter."

"That makes me happy to hear!" said Director Cyrano. "I remember Ms. Briar saying her hopes for that trip were to unite you kids together so our schools' bond felt like a real unity! I never had any doubt you would all get along fine, of course!"

Juliana turned to Lacey again.

"You said you know Kieran too?"

"That's right."

Juliana's smile faltered a bit. "Umm… how is he these days? Unfortunately, we… we kinda had a big fight right before we left, and he was so upset that we never had a chance to say goodbye. I've been worried about him ever since then…"

"Oh no!" Lacey reacted, looking particularly dour. "That's not good. I never heard about that. Maybe that explains why… why he's been so moody."

"He has?" Juliana replied, looking sullen. "Oh man…"

Lacey gently pat her on the shoulder.

"Well, he has. But…! He's also achieved quite a lot since he came back. Like, a real lot. I think he'd be really excited to tell you all about it if you two met again. You must really be hoping that you can make it up to him, huh?"

Juliana nodded. "More than anything. I still feel so terrible for the way things ended last time… But at least he and Carmine have each other, right? I feel good knowing that much…"

She looked to Lacey for affirmation but… Lacey's face was turned away.

"Yeah…"

Juliana wasn't sure why her new classmate wasn't looking her way anymore, but then Lacey stared ahead and went—

"Oh, look! We're here!"

"Woah…"

"This is it," said Lacey. "The park beneath the sea that has gained renown around the world…"

Juliana was met with an even more impressive sight than the Blueberry Academy entrance.

She stepped out onto a huge golden landscape, with mountains off in the distance and yellow plains as far as the eye could see.

Well not quite as far, because past that she spotted weird white multi-colored walls that seemed to be bordering… even more varied land types? She spotted a lot of mountains under thick clouds, a grassy area way, way off in the distance and… snow caps!? Just feet away from this savannah!?

"Our very own Terrarium!"

"Th… Th—this is the Terrarium?" Juliana was so spellbound she could hardly speak. "It's like a… a whole region! Like a miniature Paldea!"

"I thought you'd be impressed!" Cyrano chuckled. "Better than any museum you've been to, right?"

"We may still be underwear right now, but the projectors built into the walls and ceiling make it feel like we're actually outside, don't they?" said Lacey. "We've been able to create a comfortable environment through technology!"

"How… how did you make all of this? How is it all different climates!? Are those real trees and plants and mud or—or is everything artificial? Are those—there are wild Pokémon living here!? Just… just… HOW!?"

Juliana was speaking at a million words a minute and asking a thousand questions, which made Lacey and Cyrano feel really proud of themselves.

"I designed all this myself!" Cyrano bragged. "And believe me—it wasn't cheap!"

The pair went on to describe the four biomes of the Terrarium to Juliana and how the regulated temperatures in each quadrant means different types of Pokémon can live inside.

Lacey also told her about the self-serve healing machines that serve the same function as Pokémon Centers…

"Right! Yeah! I remember Carmine talked about those."

Cyrano pointed to the giant Terrarium Core hanging right over their heads as the reason why wild Pokémon can Terastallize here, which he said was put together by Ms. Briar and packed with mysterious material from Juliana's own homeland that's constantly emitting Terastal energy.

Before they could answer any more questions, a class bell sounded right over their heads.

"Practical battle classes will commence shortly in the Coastal Biome. Students participating in this class should make their way to the Coastal Biome now."

"Oh! It looks like you're just in time to see a class session too!"

"Really?" Juliana was amazed. "You mean… there are classes out here in the Terrarium?"

"Oh yeah!" Cyrano answered. "Sometimes, the best way to learn is doing so right out on the field!"

"This is too good of a chance to pass up." Lacey turned to Juliana. "Won't you join us, Juliana? You can get your first taste of our school's classes!"

"Yeah, of course!" Juliana beamed. "That sounds wonderful!"

"Tee-hee!" Lacey cupped her hands together. "I love to see that sort of passion for education!"

She helpfully registered the Terrarium map to Juliana's map app so she would know where to go for the class, and Cyrano also sent her the Blueberry Pokédex for her phone so she could start catching some of the Terrarium Pokémon for herself.

"Catch as many Pokémon here in the Terrarium as you please! Don't be afraid to go Sawsbuck-wild!"

"Aye-aye, sir!" Juliana laughed.

"It's your student life here at Blueberry Academy, so remember to live it up to the fullest!"

And with that, the jolly Director of Blueberry Academy left them to their own devices as he walked back through the tunnel.

"And there he goes…" said Lacey. "Well, you can at least count on me to be around when you need me, so there's no call for concern! In fact… we should exchange phone numbers!"

"Oh! Yeah, sure!"

They brought out their phones and did so, which left Lacey extremely pleased.

"Looks like I've got everything I needed from you, Juliana!"

Juliana's head tilted again. This Lacey was a sweet girl, but she sure had her odd moments.

"It's probably time we both head to class! I'll be waiting for you to join us in the Coastal Biome!"

The teacher cleared his throat.

"Alright, all of you! Gather 'round! We're about to start class now!"

Lacey looked around worriedly.

"Where is she…?" she wondered with a frantic face. "I hope I didn't scare the poor girl that hard…"

All the Blueberry students who were standing nearby filed into the small gazebo that served as one of the Terrarium's outdoor classrooms.

Lacey still didn't see any sign of Juliana, and hung her head in resigned sadness.

But just then, the instructor walked up and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Ms. Lacey, there's a student behind the dome playing with Pokémon. Do you know if she's participating in this class?"

"Hmm?"

Lacey peered in the flowery area behind the outdoor classroom and let out a loud snort when she saw what was happening.

Juliana was standing between some pink bushes, looking utterly captivated by a horde of Comfey that had all floated up beside her. The flowery Fairy Pokémon looked like they were all picking flowers and constructing something.

Then, to Juliana's awe and surprise, the group of Comfey used their vines to string all the flowers together… into a handmade lei! That they all gently distributed around Juliana's neck.

"Awww, thank you! So sweet!"

The Comfey all smiled and made happy noises of gratitude to the friendly girl. Lacey couldn't help but giggle at the sight.

She did say you were overly curious and friendly towards all the wild Pokémon…

"Hey, Juliana! Over here!" she called out. "Class is about to start!"

"Oops! I've got to go. Bye, Comfey!" she called out to the group of Pokémon, who all made goodbye chirps back.

Juliana ran up alongside Lacey as they stood at the entrance.

Lacey stood close to her and whispered.

"That looks lovely on you."

Juliana giggled. "Thanks, Lacey."

She whispered even lower. "You didn't have any trouble finding the place then?"

Juliana chuckled and just answered, "Whisper, whisper."

Lacey's eyes widened. "Say again? I didn't quite catch that!"

"Sorry. It's an inside joke between me and my friend Penny—"

"Alola, everybody!" the instructor called out. "Shall we get started? Looks like we have a new face with us today!"

The class was all about the various climates in the Terrarium, and how different Pokémon adapt to live in these areas.

This shifted the conversation to regional forms, how some species of Pokémon have variations with completely different appearances and even change their Type to adapt in extremely different climates.

"And that brings us to today's task! I'd like each of you to catch one of these Pokémon—specifically, an Alolan Form Pokémon! When you've got one, come and report to me. Now get catching!"

"Many of our classes here at Blueberry Academy are practical ones like this," Lacey explained to Juliana as the class ended.

"I see that. So… he said it has to be an Alolan Pokémon, huh?" Juliana whispered to Lacey.

"Director Cyrano gave you the Blueberry Dex, right? That should tell you which of the regional forms you find around here originally came from Alola!"

"Got it!" Juliana brushed up her flowery lei and hoisted her Blueberry backpack. "Guess I should get to finding one then!"

"Don't overthink it! Just do your best for this first class!"

"Got it!"

And much to Lacey's shock, Juliana quickly took off into the unknown of the Coastal Biome, ready to start hunting.

The instructor had a surprised expression on his face too.

"That's the new student that everyone's talking about, right? From Paldea?" he asked Lacey. "She has a lot of energy! I like seeing that in a student."

"Me too, sir!"

"Now I'm intrigued to find out what sort of Alolan Pokémon she'll bring back."

Lacey nodded. "Probably a Grimer. Those are the ones most commonly found in this biome."

"As I live and breathe! An Alolan Sandshrew!?"

The instructor's glasses nearly flew right off his face, and even Lacey gasped at the unexpected Pokémon Juliana had eagerly sent out in front of them.

"Pajoo?"

The thick-plated light blue rodent looked around at everyone, confused by all the attention.

"Yeah! That's… that's an Alolan Form, right?" Juliana said. Then she gasped with her hands over her mouth. "Oh, no! Was I only supposed to be looking in the Coastal Biome? Did I fail the assignment?"

"No, no, you pass! You… you really pass!" the enamored instructor assured him. "It's just… most students do just catch the first one they see right around them, so I'm used to seeing an Alolan Diglett, Geodude, or the occasional Exeggutor."

"Yeah! You went all the way to the Polar Biome to find one of these?" Lacey had to verify, equally surprised. "Isn't it only up on the tall mountains?"

"Mm-hm," Juliana nodded. "I just really wanted to look up and down and see how many different forms I could find of Pokémon I already knew!"

"Wow, that's… that's really cool!" Lacey said in admiration. "You're a real star, aren't you Juliana? No wonder…"

"Huh? No wonder what?"

The instructor watched Juliana's Sandshrew scratch his face and roll up like a huge snowball.

"Aww, adorable! Nobody's ever shown me an Alolan Form Sandshrew before! I've always wanted to get one for myself, but that Polar Biome, so freezing cold… I don't know how you kids can stand it over there."

"Oh!"

Juliana dug out a Great Ball.

"I actually caught another one if you'd like one for yourself, sir!"

"Oooh, what's this?" The instructor looked at her all sly. "First class at Blueberry, and someone's already trying to score some extra credit with the teacher…"

Juliana immediately got all flustered and started sweating.

"Huh!? Oh—n-no! I'm so sorry! I wasn't trying to suck up, honest! I was just offering, really!"

"Really? Well, that's awful sweet of you, miss. But… I still think I want to try to get one on my own someday. It'll be a lot more worth it."

Lacey watched this spectacle and giggled to herself.

"Kind and generous to a fault… She said that too…" she said quietly. "You really are ticking off all the boxes."

She walked up to Juliana and held her hand out.

"I'll take that other Sandshrew off your hands, Juliana! I'll raise it up real good!"

"Gee, thanks Lacey…" said Juliana, her face still red. "I'm so embarrassed…"

"Don't be. You're making a great first impression!"

"Pajoo, pajoo!" Juliana's new snowy friend agreed.

"So battling isn't your only talent, then—you've got a knack for catching Pokémon too!"

The instructor gathered everyone around again for the rest of the class session, going over some examples of different regional forms. Afterward, he stated that for any students who didn't catch a Pokémon in time, that'll be their homework before next class.

As the students all got up and started walking out of the gazebo, Juliana heard a few of them grumbling.

"Maaan, really?" she heard one boy say. "Guess I'm stuck with homework."

Juliana scoffed at this and turned to Lacey.

"That's what you guys get for homework? I don't know about battling, but it sounds like classes are going to be a breeze here compared to all the papers we have to write at my school!"

"Yeah," Lacey chuckled. "I guess it's just a matter of perspective what seems what's fun versus what's tedious based on your own personal experiences. So Juliana, what did you think of your first Blueberry class?"

"It was a lot of fun! Some of the best fun I've ever had!" Juliana beamed.

"Pajoo!" Sandshrew chimed.

"Really!? It makes me so happy to hear that!" Lacey cooed.

Her smile dropped however as she suddenly gasped and realized something.

"Oh! I was supposed to go make an appearance at the clubroom! Shoot! I'm afraid this will have to be the end of our little tour, but let me tell you one other thing…"

Lacey explained the concept of BBQ's to Juliana: Blueberry's own special missions that award students with BP for completing certain extracurricular tasks. Those Blueberry Points apparently function as a currency throughout the school, even in the school store and cafeteria.

Juliana thought it sounded like amazing fun.

"Right!?" Lacey glanced at her Rotom Phone. "Well, that's it for me! Sorry for having to dash, but I really gotta make that meeting! Enjoy your time at Blueberry Academy, Juliana!"

"I will! Thanks for everything, Lacey!" Juliana waved as Lacey began to run.

"Don't thank me yet!" Lacey called out in a singsongy manner.

Juliana let her hand drop with a perplexed expression, watching Lacey disappear into the plains.

"What… does she mean when she says things like that?" she asked her Sandshrew.

"Grrrowl?"

"Alright, well… now that I've got some free time, I want to start knocking out some of these BBQ's and see about meeting new Pokémon friends!"

"Pajoo, pajoo!"

Juliana opened the app that Lacey installed for her, showing a predetermined set of Blueberry Quests for her to complete.

"Let's see. Catch a Rock-type Pokémon, take a picture of a Pokémon that's swimming…" Juliana did a double take at one of them. "Find… Ditto Blocks with some friends? What the heck are those?"

"Grrrr." Sandshrew made a confused noise.

"Oh! Here's one. Sneak up on a wild Pokémon… I can do that! I got really good at sneaking up on tricky Pokémon back home!"

"Pajoo, pajoo!"

"Oooh… and I see a fresh target right over there."

Juliana ducked into a nearby bush as she spotted a much more familiar Pokémon off in the distance.

A pink Oricorio stood out in the Pa'u Style, which made it imitate the moves of a hula dancer.

Although Juliana hadn't seen that particular style of Oricorio before, she had still encountered the other forms of the colorful bird enough to know when it wouldn't be looking.

"And… now!"

She hastily tossed out one of her Poké Balls to bonk Oricorio in the back.

"Cheep-cheep!?"

Oricorio was so caught off guard it wasn't even ready to face the menacing-looking Tinkaton peering down upon it with murder in her eyes.

"Tinkaaaaa!"

"Cheep…?"

"Yes! Hopefully that's good enough t—"

She was interrupted by a sharp ping from her Rotom Phone.

Much to Juliana's astonishment, the "Sneak up on a wild Pokémon!" mission instantly registered as completed, and Juliana watched as 20 BP was automatically added into her digital wallet.

"Uhhh, w-wow! I completed the mission! But…" She looked at her phone in confusion. "How… how does it know that right away?"

She started looking up all around her.

"Are there… cameras watching us or something? Is somebody watching me through the app?"

She was about to tap on the BBQ app to look for more quests, when all of a sudden, her phone flashed that she was receiving a call.

Unknown caller ID.

"…Who could that be?"

She tapped to answer.

"Hello?"

"Hey!" came a girl's voice. "This is Juliana's phone, right?"

"Yeah!" she answered back. "Who's this?"

The voice sounded extremely familiar, but Juliana couldn't quite place it over the speaker until she heard a happy gasp that immediately brought her back to—

"It's me! Carmine!"

Juliana gasped in delight and almost fell to her knees.

"Carmine!? Is that really you!?"

"YES!" came a response that sounded more enthusiastic than Juliana was expecting.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so happy to hear your voice!" Juliana exclaimed.

She heard Carmine clearing her throat.

"Me too! Of course! How have you been?"

"I've been doing great!" Juliana beamed, happy as a Clamperl now. "What about you?"

There was a small pause, before she heard that smug voice she remembered so well.

"Ohhh, I've been doing quite alright for myself. But I just heard the news! You got picked for Blueberry Academy's exchange program… right?"

"I sure did!"

"Hah! One of my friends just told me! Oooh… never thought we'd be fellow students of BB Academy!"

Juliana heard a strange thumping sound from the other end, and then silence. But then she almost swore she could hear two people whispering. She was about to ask what was going on, but that's when Carmine continued speaking.

"Anyway, umm, you should totally come show your face! It's been too long already!"

"Yeah! Yeah, I'd love to catch up with you! Absolutely!" Juliana was grinning wide as a mile now. "I've got so much to tell you!"

"Me too!" Carmine replied eagerly. "Now let me think… Where could we meet up? Oh! Have you been to the Terrarium?"

Juliana laughed. "I'm literally standing in the Coastal Biome right now!"

"That's—wow, that's so funny," she heard Carmine giggle. "Well, that makes it easier then! There's a space called the Central Plaza right in the center of the dome! It's like our big hub!"

Juliana craned her neck and tried to look out into the horizon.

"Do you see it?"

Truthfully, there was too huge a mesa in the way for Juliana to see the center of the Terrarium.

"No but… your classmate Lacey installed the map of the Terrarium on my phone, so I can totally find it."

"Awww, that's Lacey for you," said Carmine. "Great then! I'll—I'll meet you there!" Juliana heard a breathy laugh from her. "This is going to be so exciting!"

"Yeah, I'm excited too!" said Juliana. "Alright… see you there!"

"Uh-huh!"

Juliana was about to hang up when…

"Oh, and- Don't keep me waiting if you know what's good for you! 'Kay!?"

Juliana burst out snickering.

Yup, that's Carmine alright.

"No need to worry!"

She hung up, and as soon as she did… she burst out in a huge jump and started hugging the phone tightly. Then she looked around to see if someone saw that, a little embarrassed that she just did that.

"This is so greeeeat!" Juliana whispered in glee. "I've missed Carmine so much!"

Her Sandshrew walked up to her curiously, as did her Tinkaton, deciding to leave the unconscious Oricorio behind.

"Come on, you two!" Juliana declared in newfound delight and confidence. "Let's go meet our friend again!"

"PAJOO!"

"TINK!"

Her entire face beaming with excitement, Juliana and her adorable friends took off towards the Central Plaza for a long-awaited reunion.

The Central Plaza was huge. Much huger than Juliana expected it.

Carmine wasn't kidding about it being like a big hub. There were so many Blueberry students congregated and sitting in different spots on all the multicolored block structures that it was almost like its own little mini-town.

Juliana found herself really wishing Carmine had specified where in this gigantic plaza she was.

It took climbing several ramps and different elevations until she finally reached an enormous second level with a battle court. There was also one of those self-service healing machines, next to some vending machines and a much more familiar TM Machine.

…And standing in front of these machines, was her.

Somehow, she looked exactly the same as Juliana remembered but… a little more put-together?

Carmine ran her fingers through her hair. Her gorgeous black locks that somehow became a bright crimson red on the undersides, like a beautiful devil. Her hair looked… a bit glossier. More well-groomed?

There was no change in her bright, yellow eyes. Striking in color, surrounded in black mascara, and yet so oddly soothing to get lost in.

Her tall, confident build, still clad in that blue uniform Juliana now understood to be Blueberry Academy's winter choice.

Juliana found herself stiffly frozen in place for a few seconds. She was almost intimidated to move forward, for reasons she didn't quite know.

Finally, she worked up the nerve to walk up to them. Carmine was talking to another girl, improbably at the same height as both her and Lacey.

Oh no… not another one! Juliana's heart began to thump again. Is she just… friends with all the tall brigade here? Or—are all the girls at Uva just shorter?

"So yeah, things are a bit rough right now…"

Juliana's heart felt like it wanted to sprout wings and sing out of her chest when she heard Carmine's distinctly husky yet silky voice again for the first time in months.

"I couldn't agree more," said her companion.

As Juliana stepped closer, the other girl, dark skinned with unique silver knots in her hair and thick half-moon glasses, glanced over and spotted her. Before then, she looked like she had been nodding at a rhythm.

"Ah. You have a visitor, Carmine."

Carmine quickly swiveled around.

"Oh!" She did her familiar two-handed wave and smiled sweetly. "Hey there, Juliana! Long time no see!"

"Hi, Carmine!" Juliana greeted warmly. "It's been so long!"

"It sure has!" She did a dramatic flip of her silky locks. "I bet you really missed me, huh?"

Juliana looked the girl over and put on a dismissive face.

"Ehh, no."

"What!?" And then the seething started. "What do you mean no!? Did all your wonderful memories of me just… wither away since we last saw each other!?"

Then Carmine saw the smirk on her face and grumbled.

"Ugh. You're doing the thing again. Like, right away. Five seconds into seeing each other again. Why should I expect any less from you?"

Juliana giggled. All of her favorite eccentricities of Carmine's seemed to be back on display, from her initial cool aura to the seething with her teeth to her exasperated expressions.

Within just ten seconds of meeting, Juliana already felt the huge gap of time between their last meeting shrinking heavily and almost disappearing. Like they had just been doing this yesterday.

"You know I'm teasing," she said. "I only tease the friends I really care about."

"Yeah, you're so complex…" Carmine rolled her eyes. "Compared to me, because I'm the same loving way towards everyone!" she giggled lightly.

Amarys dug out her silver pocket watch to catch the time, clicked a button, and cleared her throat.

"It really is time for me to go now," she politely informed Carmine. "I'm needed in the clubroom. Nice seeing you, Carmine."

"Ahh—OK!" Carmine replied, sounding a little frazzled. "S-see you round, Amarys.."

Amarys briefly stopped to shake Juliana's hand.

"And so long to you as well, Juliana. It was nice to finally meet you."

Finally?

"Uhh, thanks. You… too?"

Juliana felt her knees buckle slightly as she gazed up at Amarys. Walking away, Juliana began to have an uncomfortable thought.

Yup… tall girls are definitely my weakness. I might be in trouble here…

She turned back around to Carmine… just barely in time to see Carmine doing a weird motion with her hands. But then she stood up straight and resumed her calm demeanor.

"That's one of my classmates, her name's Amarys. She's an interesting one!"