Chapter Text
Slow footsteps echoed through the empty hallway as Drayton made his way towards the mailroom. A large yawn emerged from his form as he walked in, causing a chuckle from the guy behind the counter.
“Looking sleepy there bud.” he said as Drayton walked up to the counter.
“Yeahhh. I was taking a nap and Lacey kicked me out. Said I needed to ‘be useful’ so here I am to pick up the club mail.” Drayton managed, stifling another yawn as he spoke.
“Yup, that sounds like Lacey alright. Let's see..” he paused to type on the monitor in front of him, his eyes moving back and forth as he scanned the information shown. “Alright, looks like 2 packages ending in 4436 and 4439 and 3 letters. I'll grab those for ya, wait right here.”
“I wasn't planning on going anywhere else so uh..sure.” Drayton replied, though halfway through the other kid had turned and walked away already. After what felt like an eternity to a sleepy Drayton the kid came back with the two packages and letters stacked on here.
“Here ya go man.” he said, handing the boxes over to Drayton who slowly reached out for them, another yawn escaping. Drayton managed a “thanks, man” in the middle of the yawn before he turned and started making his way back to the clubroom.
On the way over he glanced at the letters on top, one an obvious advertisement for a new brand of vitamins, one some weird notice- maybe an offer for a gym? Whatever that was didn't matter when he saw the third one. A small white envelope with the corners a bright yellow. He recognized the name of the sender.
‘Nemona’
That was Juliana’s friend right? That super energetic girlie who was invited once and went around battling anyone and everyone the entire time she was here. That menace. What could she possibly want that warranted sending a letter?
His steps slowed to a halt as he held the envelope in his free hand, finally setting down the boxes on the floor to get a better look at it. Besides the corners there was a light smattering of bubbly yellow across the front and it was addressed to ‘Battle Club’s Elite Four’. Oh man, was this some sort of battle challenge from her? No thanks, that sounds like a hassle. But just in case, better open it and find out. After all, it WAS addressed to the elite four and he WAS a member even if he’d rather spend his free time napping.
Flipping it over so he could see the back he could see the flap of the envelope held down with a small balloon sticker. Festive. He slipped a finger underneath the flap, popping it open with ease. Inside was a single firm cardstock with one set of words standing out as they took up nearly half of the card.
‘YOU’RE INVITED!’
“Huh. Invited to what?” he mused as he looked over the rest of the information in smaller print.
‘What: Juliana’s birthday party! When: September 25th 20XX at 1pm!
Where: My house! (Address listed on the envelope)
P.S. While the invitation says Elite Four, Carmine and Kieran are also invited.
P.P.S. Please contact me at this number if you have questions or need airfare
Oh yeah! Bring your best suit!
P.P.P.S bring your best battle team too’
“Huh. So not a battle Royale.. Wait! Birthday party?! Oh they've gotta hear about this!” he exclaimed, quickly grabbing the boxes and walking quickly to the elevator to get to the floor the club room was on.
It didn't take long for him to barrel through the club doorway, his voice louder than usual as he exclaimed:
“ GUYS, WE'RE GOING TO PALDEA”
Everyone at the table stared at him dumbfounded for a second before their faces took on individual emotions. Lacey and Crisipin were looking on in confusion, Amarys returned to her more neutral look, her surprise only lasting on her face for a brief moment. Carmine and Kieran however looked at Drayton as if he'd sprouted a second head.
“What do you MEAN we're going to Paldea?” Carmine spoke up, the annoyance with Drayton's usual antics sneaking into the tone of her voice. He gave a smirk in response, putting the boxes down on the corner of the table before slapping the invitation onto the table, right in the middle.
“ We've been invited to a party! And get this! It's for our favorite temporary champ!” Drayton said as he pulled out a seat next to Crispin to sit down. The task that he’d been forced to graciously accomplished was complete and a nap was in order or at least some slouching.
“Temporary champ?” Kieran asked, confusion evident in his voice as he reached for the paper still stuck under Drayton’s hand. He paused for a moment as he realized who he meant. “Wait…Do ya mean Juliana?!”
“Well well would ya look at our champ here using his brains.” Drayton responded with a snicker, laughing harder when Kieran shoved Drayton’s hand aside with full force to get to the invitation. He slid it against the table until he could fully pick it up to read the contents.
“So? What does it say?” Lacey asked, leaning over on the table curiously.
“Can’t believe I’m going to say this but..Drayton’s right.. Man that feels gross to say. Anyway, says we’re all invited…The party’s next weekend?! And…We need suits?!” Kieran exclaimed as he read over the individual details on the invitation. The clamor that followed was loud and boisterous with voices clamoring to be heard over each other.
Carmine: “Next weekend?!”
Crispin: “Wait, but I have a battle scheduled for next weekend!”
Kieran: “Where the hell am I s'posed ta get a suit in Castelia?”
Amarys: “This is very short notice.”
Lacey: “A party in Paldea does sound pretty fun…”
Carmine: “Forget the suit, what about birthday presents?!”
Kieran: “A present! I can’t show up without a gift!”
Lacey: “Kieran, you have battles scheduled for next weekend too you know”
Kieran: “I don’t care about that! Reschedule them! I have bigger concerns right now!”
Crispin: “Uhh don’t we need passports to go?”
Amarys: “You were given a passport when you became a student in case of trips.”
Crispin: “Wait, so I have one?! Great, now I have to find it.”
“Alright, alright, can we settle down a bit here. Look, the way I see it, We GOTTA go. It’s her 15th birthday, yeah? That means this is gonna be a Quince! And those are like…super important to hipaldics. It’s like our sweet 16s here!” Drayton interrupted, getting everyone’s attention with a quick tap on the table. He was leaning back in his chair lazily but the glint in his eyes was clearly visible as he spoke. He wasn’t about to let anyone get in the way of a free trip to Paldea for a party.
“Hold on Drayton, it doesn’t mention anything about a ‘Quinceanera’ on this invitation.” Lacey was the first to speak up, pointing out the inconsistency while she read over the card she had taken from Kieran while they were all talking. “Maybe not, but we can guess from her age and telling us to bring our best suit. It’s GOTTA be a fancy quince. You can’t convince me otherwise, unless Paldean birthdays are black tie affairs every year?” Drayton shrugged in response, laying his head down on the table. He’d said his piece and was content to let them bicker amongst themselves on the rest.
Well, less so bickering since it was largely positive and sounding like they wanted to go. Kieran especially seemed suspiciously adamant about going. If he didn’t know any better he’d think there was some ulterior motive for wanting to go.
< Hm. Surprised Kieran is willing to cancel his upcoming fights for this party. Getting some slight simping vibes here. I had a feeling that he was crushing on her hard, but this reaction seems way more than I thought.
Sounds like this could play out to be more fun than I imagined. >
That weekend the whole group took a trip out to Castelia city on the ferry. They took the first ferry they could which was admittedly after 1pm, thanks to Lacey’s suggestions the challengers scheduled for next weekend were able to do their matches earlier today so both Kieran and Crispin were free for next weekend. Lacey had a battle scheduled for Sunday so that wasn’t a problem and the rest could be rescheduled for after their trip.
Drayton had insisted on the perfect place to go to get fancy outfits, much to everyone’s chagrin. He led the way to a small shop off Castelia street, earning a surprised look from Carmine in the process.
“What? Did you think I was gonna lead you to a thrift store or something?” he asked incredulously, with a hint of sarcasm shining through.
“Err, no. Though now that you bring that up, I hadn’t considered that possibility…No! Anyway! This place is bound to be wayyyy out of our price range!” Carmine complained after recovering from the curveball he had thrown. She glanced over at Kieran for him to chime in about the price as well but he was completely zoned out. Had he even realized they were in front of the shop to begin with?
“Kiki!” Carmine hissed to get his attention. He snapped to attention with a startled flinch, now looking at his surroundings, confusion evident on his face.
“Wha..Where?” he started before Crispin started to push him into the doorway.
“Come on, let’s just go in! Doesn’t cost anything to look, right? And if it’s not affordable, we’ll try somewhere else!” Crispin raised his hand in a cheer, though it felt strange not having a frying pan there. Sure, he normally took it everywhere but Lacey had convinced him to leave it on campus lest he get in trouble with the police for carrying around a potential weapon. But frying pan or not he could still cheer his friend on and give him the push he needs! To get through the door.
Kieran marveled at how neat the counter looked when he stepped inside, eyes moving towards the racks of suits of various colors and lengths in order. There were small single person chairs off to the side and a small table with a couple books laying on it, style guides perhaps?
After Drayton and Crispin filed in, Kieran was expecting to see his sister come in as well but she didn’t. She waved to him from outside, making a vague gesture he interpreted as ‘they were going to another store’. Ah, that makes sense. This place sells suits after all and they’d be looking for dresses. A feeling of dread made itself known as soon as he realized he’d have to pick out a suit on his own. He didn’t know anything about what styles looked best or even what color to go for.
Before he could even make a complaint he heard the sound of a door opening and then closing before a man walked up to the counter. He had slicked back dark green hair, with black piercing eyes to match. As he walked up one could see the crisp lines of his suit as he cut an impressive image with his imposing height.
“Ahhh Drayton darling, we’ve been expecting you! Right on time for once, huh? And these two are the friends you mentioned?” The man cheerily greeted Drayton from behind the counter, glancing over at Kieran and Crispin behind him as he spoke. His gaze was piercing despite the friendly demeanor, almost as if sizing them up then and there. “Yeah, nice to see ya again Alberto! Thanks for agreeing to see us on such short notice, I know you’re usually booked out for months.” Drayton replied, putting his hands in his pockets as he waited for the next part of the fitting.
“Well you just got lucky, we had a last minute cancellation of a client I really didn’t like working with. Insult my work and you’re fired as a client. Simple. As. That. Now! Let’s get you boys back in the fitting areas and see what we can get you in!” Alberto responded with a slight hint of irritation at the thought of the client who insulted his work, enunciating his words with three snaps of his fingers before making a single clap to the side to signal the end of that conversation piece. He made his way to the other side of the counter before opening another door and making a gesture to come in.
Drayton sauntered in without a care in the world as Crispin followed behind excitedly. Kieran took a bit longer to get moving, a bit nervous at dealing with this kind of thing on his own.
< Aw man, what if I end up picking a suit that Juliana hates? Should I be looking for a particular color?
I wish Sis was here to at least tell me if what I have looks stupid on me or not. >
With a sigh Kieran made his way into the backroom area, not wanting to keep Alberto waiting for long by the door. In the back area there was a pedestal in between two large cubbies filled with suits, one of which Drayton immediately started rifling through.
“Alright, so I take it you'd like me to take their measurements first?” Alberto said, looking over at Drayton who nodded in response before going back to the suit he was looking at.
“Well! So, my name is Alberto and I'm the owner of this fine establishment. We haven't been introduced yet, your names?” Alberto spoke quickly, turning around to face them as he pulled a rolled up tape measure from his front pocket.
“Nice to meet you, I'm Crispin!” Crispin exclaimed, shoving his hand out for a handshake which Alberto took after a second of staring at his hand. They could clearly hear the mumble he made.
“Hmm yes, a chef's smock? Perhaps something in white would be best with that bright hair….” Alberto paused, raising his voice as he tore his eyes away from Crispin's outfit and hair and squarely placed them on Kieran who flinched at the sudden spotlight on him. “And you?”
“Ni-nice to..meet you. I'm Kieran.” Kieran managed to stumble through his words as Alberto's gaze scrutinized every detail of his being.
“Dark colored hair, with purple and black hm? Can't go wrong with a black set but a lighter color might look nice as well..” Alberto began mumbling again before turning around and heading over to the small pedestal without a word to either of them.
“Alright, you with the chef smock. Stand here please. And remove the smock.” he said, pointing at the pedestal with little interaction otherwise. Crispin glanced over at Kieran and shrugged, doing as requested. Kieran had never once seen Crispin in just his school uniform so this was a novel experience. When he heard a small chime and a door closing he jumped, not expecting to hear it though confused as it wasn't coming from the front of the shop.
“Lucca! Would you come be a dear and take Drayton’s measurements, please!” Alberto shouted towards an area with a curtain. After a bit, a shorter man came out, with a large bolt of fabric in his hands and a plastic bag of items hanging from his wrist.
“Sure! Let me put this stuff away! Hi, Drayton! Good ta see ya, how's yer grandad?” he asked as he walked the bolt further away and placing it on a shelf with other bolts. He shoved the bag onto a nearby cluttered desk, before grabbing a notepad and tape measure of his own and coming back.
In the time it took him to do that Alberto had finished measuring Crispin, now motioning for Kieran to stand on the pedestal for the same. He complied, feeling all the more awkward under the man's gaze. Without another word he got to work on measuring before he let out an exasperated sigh.
“Ooo child, you need to put some muscle on, way too thin. Are you eating right? Drayton, make sure your friend eats. Next time I see you in this shop I expect better numbers on this tape.” he complained, stopping to poke Kieran’s stomach “ I DON'T want to see numbers increase here. Understand? Yes? Good.”
Kieran stood there dumbfounded, he hadn't even gotten a word in when Alberto had finished the conversation with the numbers he was writing on a small notepad as he walked away. He looked over at Drayton who was still getting measured who gave him the smallest nonchalant shrug to not interfere with the measuring. Seems like Lucca was a bit slower than Alberto at measuring as it took Drayton longer to get finished.
With measurements completed they were all shuffled to another section where Alberto pointed out some styles that he thought would look best before they decided on a theme. To complete their look they needed input from the girls of their group on what they had decided on with a quick phone call to get that information.
Despite being a nicer tailor shop the prices were very reasonable given the quality. It looks like they also gave a discount due to Drayton’s grandfather being a regular of theirs. With that task completed they met back up with the girls to finish up the last of their shopping for the trip. Carmine had insisted on getting some new clothes while she was out, dragging Kieran with her the whole time to get him to buy new clothes for himself as well.
After all, who wants to wear a uniform when they're in another country? They also still had to buy a present as well, so unfortunately this wasn't the last shop they'd be going to. Amarys, Crispin and Lacey all went together to the same shops while Drayton tagged along with Carmine and Kieran. When Carmine objected to him tagging along with them Drayton’s offer to carry her bags sweetened the deal enough that she acquiesced. Kieran wasn’t happy with the arrangement but was also too stuck in his thoughts of what to buy as a present that in the end he barely noticed him there at all.
Carmine dragged the two of them all over buying new outfits, new shoes to go with said outfits, and new swimsuits as well. After all Paldea has a ton of beaches, surely they could go to at least one. They would be there for about two weeks after they had talked to Director Cyrano and he somehow managed to convince Director Clavell to have them over as a miniature exchange. He knew as soon as the idea floated past Geeta's desk it would've been approved faster than he could say Glimmora.
Finally they all boarded the ferry back to the school, arms full of bags and boxes from their shopping excursion and exhausted looks on all of their faces. At least they were able to eat dinner while they were out so they could just go back to their rooms and crash for the night. Sadly rest was unlikely as with a little less than a week left before the party they needed to make sure everything was in place before they left, and that they had everything they needed.
Kieran was utterly dreading the lack of time as he was the only one to not have a present. Everyone had been excitedly talking about what they bought for Juliana in town on the way back and he'd clammed up when they asked him what he bought. How was he supposed to say he couldn't find a single thing that he wanted to give her? That everything in the shops seemed too casual or far too extravagant all at once and wouldn't relay the depths of all his feelings of respect and adoration towards her.
Surprisingly, Drayton didn't make fun of him for it. Everyone had given him a sympathetic smile and told him he'd surely find something and could just come back tomorrow. His head sunk low as he resigned to try again with a sigh.
When they arrived at the school Carmine stopped by his room to divy up the stuff they had purchased. He had a feeling she had come over to nag him for his dirty room when she commented on how it was a lot cleaner than the last time she was in it. She immediately sat on his bed and started unpacking the stuff she’d bought. She unwrapped one of the garments before getting his attention.
“Kiki, don’t you think this will look super cute on Juli?” she said as she held the dress up fully. A light yellow sundress with thin shoulder straps and a white border at the top came into view as he turned to look. He stared at the embroidered combees and the decorative stitching depicting their flight path on the flared bottom which he noted was a darker, almost orange color compared to the top. He paused to try to imagine Juliana wearing said dress, paired with cork sandals and a straw sunhat. Cute. WAY too cute. His hand shot up to cover his face as he turned away, his face red as a flush spread across his cheeks.
“Ye-yeah..Its uh..cu..cute.” he struggled to get the words out, attempting to get the adorable image out of his head so he could focus on the task at hand. An attempt that was proving more difficult as time went by as the image of her in his mind leaned over with a broad gleeful smile, hands tucked behind her. The image finally dissipated when he felt a light smack on his shoulder.
“Stop thinking weird things you pervert! Don’t think I don’t see that blush on your face!” Carmine scolded, though her face spoke far more of her amusement than any true anger with her lips curled into a smug smile.
“I-I w-wasn’t thinking anything weird! Stop laughing!” he complained, rubbing his shoulder as she started chuckling behind a raised hand. It was obvious she knew about his crush given how often she teased him for it, like a proper older sibling should.
“So. Any ideas for what you’re getting her? You shot down everything I suggested in Castelia and I think they were great ideas.” she said as she began to fold the dress into a nice neat square and carefully wrapping it back in the light pink tissue paper it came in.
“Yeah, because everything you suggested was clothes! I can’t buy her clothes! You can buy her clothes because you’re a GIRL. I can’t buy her clothes! That’s…that’s what a boy….boyfriend..does..” he protested as his face began turning red again, his voice trailing off as she scrunched her face in response.
“I suggested other stuff that wasn’t clothes too! Ugh, fine. Why don’t you make her something then if you don’t want to buy her stuff. You know how to carve, so why not carve her a figure of her favorite pokemon or a mask?” she suggested as she began unpacking the new clothes they’d bought for him and placing them neatly on the bed next to where he was sitting. He picked up one of the new t-shirts and stared at it for a bit before speaking.
“I….I dunno what her favorite is…I dunno that she even has a favorite.” he said softly as he put the shirt back onto the pile next to him. He caught the brief look of annoyance from his sister as she looked at the shirt placed out of line with the rest of the pile.
“Then just make something you know she loves. Ooooh, carve a figure of that kaiju of hers, with all the electricity surrounding it and light up eyes and‐” she began excitedly, making a zig zag motion with her hand as she talked about the electricity.
“Hold on now, I'm not THAT great at carving! There's no way I could make something like that, especially not in a week!” he interrupted before her idea got any loftier. But as he thought about her words, some bit of it rang true. Something he knew she loved, huh. Well, something does come to mind.
Carmine watched with a smile when she noticed the look on his face as he started formulating an idea of his own. Best leave him to it then. She got up after pulling out the last bits of his new clothes and tossing it at him to get his attention.
“Hurry and put these away and get started on whatever you're making her. You don't have a whole lot of time so sooner the better.” she said, stifling a laugh when the shirts ended up on his head, startling him from his thoughts.
“Ri-right. I…I think I have enough wood from home ta make it. If not, I'll have ta go out and buy more…” his voice quickly descended into a mumble as he got up and started moving the pile into his closet. He was so lost in thought he didn't hear his sister leave, despite the noise she made picking up the remainder of the bags and items that were hers.
He shoved the new clothes straight into his luggage as he wouldn't be using them till the trip anyway. He searched through the pile of wood he'd brought with him to carve things in his free time and found one that was sufficiently long enough. It felt a bit smaller than what he had in mind but this was the biggest one he had and rather than spend more time going back to Castelia to find a shop that sells wood to carve he could just use this instead.
He brought it over to his desk and began making measurements after searching for the right tools in his messy desk drawer. Some things will always be a mess despite better habits. He quickly scribbled his idea on some notebook paper, silently cringing as he passed the pages filled with strategy notes from his obsession with winning. He needed to toss those at some point.
After making his quick sketch he made some marks on the wood in the right spots for his vision and got to work carving out the rough shape. He needed all the time he could get to get it done before the trip.
The days rolled by and the trip was coming up soon. Kieran had barely finished his carving on Wednesday night, luckily a day before their trip. His sister had of course come by to make sure he'd packed everything and was ready to go. As if he wasn't prepared and packed the whole week already. He wasn't going to miss this chance to not only go to Paldea but to see Juliana again, so of course he had everything packed.
Except apparently his socks, the new undershirts they bought that he hadn't shoved into the luggage, his underwear, the toiletries that weren't going to be used before they left on Thursday night and a couple other items… Okay, so apparently he wasn't as packed as he should've been. To be fair, he'd spent all his time on the carving which Carmine had noticed on his desk when she was ‘helping’ him pack.
“Ooooh is this it? Is this what you made her?” she cooed excitedly as she quickly made her way to his desk despite his protests.
“Wait, no! That's not‐” he struggled to get a coherent sentence out as she picked up the carving carefully. He quickly turned away as he felt his face heating up with embarrassment. When he looked back he could see his sister turning it over and over in her hands to get a look at the work.
“I'm not sure I wanna give that to her…What if she doesn't like it? There's no time to paint it..a-a-and the carving’s still a little rough in spots…Ahh forget it, I'll buy her something in Paldea! I can't give her this!” he rambled before trying to grab it from his sister's hands but she held it away from him in one arm and held him back with the other.
“No way! You GOTTA give it to her!” she happily exclaimed, though a huge smug grin remained on her face. “After all, this is SO cute! She is gonna love it!”
“I can't tell if you're being serious or messing with me! If you think it's terrible then just say so!” he grumbled, still trying to reach the carving being held away by her longer arms. One day he'd be bigger than her, sadly not today when he needed it.
“Are you kidding me? This is amazing and I KNOW she's going to love it, just uh…don't you think it's a little on the nose about how you feeell?” she replied, a clear hint of teasing in her voice. He froze as he processed what she meant before his face flushed even more at the thought. He could hear his sister laughing at him, earning an even more embarrassed look to his face.
“Huh?! Wait…Is it?!” he shot back, panicking that his decision on what to carve was a terrible one “Oh, no way! I can't give this to her now!...It'd be too embarrassing!…” he murmured, sinking down onto the bed before burying his face in his hands.
“That’s it! I’m leaving it here. I’ll buy her something else! I’m sure I can find SOMETHING before the party!” he shot up, determined to make the most of the situation. He glanced over at where his sister was standing, only to find the spot empty. Huh? She was just here a second ago. He heard the door open and her voice call out from the doorway.
“Kikiii, I just remembered I forgot to pack something so I'm leaving! Make sure you pack the rest of your stuff and head up to the entrance! The ferry leaves at 5:30 so you’d BETTER not be late!” she called out, closing the door as she finished.
He stared towards the door for a bit in surprise. He'd never once heard his sister forget to pack anything, he was always the one forgetting stuff. She just admitted it so nonchalantly too. How weird. He shrugged and did as he was told and started packing all the things she had reminded him about. But he couldn't help but feel he was forgetting something.
< Maybe I SHOULD take the carving after all? Even if it's embarrassing I DID spend all week on it…>
He turned towards his desk to pick up the carving, finally noticing it was missing. It should've been right next to his stack of books. Maybe his sister set it down somewhere else? That seemed unlikely, she was the kind of person who put things back where she found them. The only logical explanation now was that she had taken it with her. She HAD left in a bit of a hurry. With that thought he quickly bolted out of his room after her.
When he got to her room he knocked on it so quickly and fiercely that he could hear her surprise from inside. She swung the door open after a bit, glaring down at him in annoyance when she realized the person who had almost slammed into her door was her own brother.
“Kiki, did ya finish packing yet?” she said, crossing her arms and leaning against the door frame.
“Forget about that! The carving! Where is it?!” he angrily shot back, though the concern underneath came through clearly. She could see the self restraint he was putting himself through in her doorway. She gave him a knowing smile in response.
“Calm down, I’ve got it. I went ahead and wrapped it up nicely for you as I bet you don’t have anything to wrap it with. ” she said, gently poking his forehead. He flinched and the anger quickly dissipated, replaced quickly with worry.
“Yo-you what?! I already said I wasn’t gonna give it to her! I can’t.. What if.. Give it back!” he panicked, his breath coming out in short pants as he started freaking out at the idea of giving the item to Juliana. Carmine gave a soft sigh before grabbing his head in both of her hands and turning him to face her directly.
“Relax, would you. Kiki. Look at me.” She waited until his focus was solely on her after he’d calmed down a bit before continuing with a soft smile on her face “She’s going to love it. I promise you, with what I know about her she will be THRILLED to get this. So stop worrying and finish packing already!”
She watched as his breathing went back to normal before he nodded, a small “okay” escaping his lips when he turned away. She sighed, giving him a small reassuring hug and sent him on his way back to his room to finish up. Obviously he would still be worried and a little nervous about the gift but he seemed much more composed now than when he'd barreled into her door.
Thursday went faster than expected, hectic and frantic between finishing classes and getting ready to go. Carmine had come by his room one last time, suitcase trailing behind her, to make sure he was ready to go. She was wearing a pair of high wasited blue jeans with a white blouse and a navy blue cardigan over it. Everyone had agreed to meet at the front entrance to get on the ferry and it was obvious that Carmine still seemed concerned after checking up on him.
“I'm packed, I'm fine. Go make sure that toothpaste head is ready. I'll go check on Crispin as soon as I pack these last things.” he said, watching as she relaxed a bit. She nodded and headed out immediately after. He shoved his gray hoodie on, keeping it unzipped and showing off the new ‘Mecha Tyranitar’ shirt he had on which was long on him and fell a couple inches past the long white shorts he was wearing. He packed up the last things he'd need for the trip and wheeled his luggage over to Crispin's room to see if he was good to go.
“Just a sec, I'll be right out!” Crispin called out from inside his room when Kieran knocked on the door and announced his presence outside.
After a bit Crispin finally came out of his room, large backpack on his back and a travel size suitcase at his side. Kieran eyed the backpack for a second before looking over at Crispin, who wore a hoodie with a Blaziken on the front and a fire motif on the sleeves and simple black pants. He was a bit surprised to see him in casual clothes and not the chef’s smock he always wore.
“Plleeasseee tell me ya don't have your frying pan in there.” he asked, exasperation in his voice as he stared at the backpack.
“What! No way! I'm not stupid enough to try and bring a frying pan in my carry on!” Crispin protested, earning a relieved sigh from his buddy. They had just started walking towards the elevators when he finished with “It's in my checked in luggage obviously!”
“Why would you bring your frying pan to PALDEA?!” Kieran shot back, incredulous that his friend would even think about bringing cookware to another country. They continued walking though, neither making any attempt to stop. Despite his complaints, Kieran had no real intention of getting in Crispin’s way.
“I never leave without it! It's a part of me! Also, what if I need to cook while I’m over there?! Bet you’ll want that pan then!” Crispin replied with a broad smile as he hit the button for the elevator. He could see Kieran giving him a deadpan look from the corner of his eye.
“Y’know Paldea has frying pans too, right? You can just use one over there.” Kieran said, tone dry, almost exasperated when the elevator chime sounded tearing his attention to the doors as they opened.
“Nuh-uh! Those aren’t seasoned and tempered! Besides, it’s too late to try and take it out now, it’s wrapped up in all my clothes for padding.” Crispin shot back, pulling his luggage behind him onto the elevator after Kieran got on with his bags.
“You padded the- Ugh.. Fine. But if the airport takes it away, don't say I didn’t warn you.” Kieran paused before he hit the button for the entrance, shaking his head in disbelief as the mental image of the frying pan lovingly wrapped up in clothes and padded on all sides by socks most likely.
“Well, ya know, technically you haven’t warned me of anything.” Crispin shot back, leaning forward to hit the button that Kieran had been hesitating in front of. He gave him a wide grin before he got lightly shoved aside. They both laughed at each other’s antics, more than ready to face the trip now.
When they exited the elevator and got to the courtyard Kieran immediately spotted Amarys and Lacey. Of course those two would be here already. No way would Lacey show up to anything late and Amarys hated wasting time so she would for sure be ready to go long before their meeting time. The only ones missing now were Drayton and Carmine….And technically Director Cyrano to see them off but willing to bet he completely forgot and is asleep. He didn't really need to be there since they'd already pre booked a taxi to get to the airport from the port and it should be there by the time they arrive.
Kieran stopped walking when he spotted the two of them. Lacey was wearing her long pink cardigan but underneath that was a pink blouse and khaki colored capris. Amarys however was the starkest change in clothes. She was wearing slightly baggy black pants with several pockets lining the sides and a black shirt with the logo for R.I.P. emblazoned on it. Her hair which was always in screw shaped braids was mostly down though still braided, and loosely tied together in the back.
“Hey Lacey, Hi Amarys! Are you guys pumped to go to Paldea?! I’ve never been out of the country before, have you?” Crispin began energetically as he bounded over towards Lacey. He was including Amarys in the conversation but it was obvious who he really wanted to talk to. Even Kieran could tell Crispin had a massive crush on Lacey, he figured Lacey had to have an inkling of it too.
“I’ve been out of the country before with my dad. But it’s been a long time since and I’ve never been to Paldea.” Lacey smiled as she responded, her tone of excitement leaking through her gentle voice.
Kieran walked up to them after his initial shock at clothing choices wore off, waving a hand in greeting to the both of them. Amarys looked over at Kieran in a brief moment of surprise.
“Carmine is not with you?” Amarys said, her tone one of mild surprise as she expected Carmine and Kieran to arrive together.
“She went ta get Drayton. I’m sure she’ll be here soon” he replied as he put his duffel bag on the floor while they waited. Surely it wouldn't take that long but he didn't want to hold onto his bag for longer than necessary. “So, uh..Didn’t know you were a fan of RIP” Not that he knew much about them besides hearing the name thrown around a couple times. He could recognize the logo but he’d never heard any of their music.
“The topic of musical tastes has never come up in conversation so I have not mentioned it. But yes, I am a fan of Ms. Rhyme’s work as both a gym leader and a musician.” she replied, eyes staring at the entrance area to spot the last two of their group when they show. She didn’t have to wait long as they showed up shortly after.
Drayton looked slightly disheveled as if he had hastily got ready to go, likely yelled at by Carmine to hurry it up. He was still wearing his Maschiff jersey but the tank top underneath was no longer the school issued one but a plain red one with a small logo on the bottom. The thing that drew the most attention was the lack of the cloak he always had tied around his waist, instead opting for some black jeans. He had a single large backpack on and was wheeling a suitcase in each hand. Though, on closer inspection one of them was Carmine’s. She’d probably shoved it into his hands as punishment for being late.
“Sorry we’re late, this guy over here didn’t have his outfit picked out ahead of time.” Carmine complained as she got close enough to the group. Lacey gave a soft chuckle as Drayton made a barely apologetic face behind Carmine.
“I said ‘My Bad’, what more do you want?” he whined, wheeling Carmine’s suitcase close enough to her that she was able to take it herself. All together now they started making their way to end of the entrance’s long entryway past the gates to board the ferry. Despite Drayton being the last one there they were still early enough that the ferry hadn’t arrived yet. They could see the ferry on the way so it wouldn’t be too much longer.
As expected, Cyrano never showed up to see them off. They got on the ferry and once the ferry arrived at the port they piled into the van they had requested to taxi them over to the airport. Surprisingly getting through security was simple and even though Kieran was sure they’d make a stink about Crispin’s frying pan he was surprised at how simple the interaction had been. They had asked him why he was bringing a frying pan with him and when he said he was a chef in training they stared at him for a minute before shrugging and letting it go, saying “Well, nothing illegal about bringing a frying pan on a plane. Carry on.”
By the time that they had gotten through security and to their gate the plane was set to arrive in about 20 minutes. Enough time to grab something to munch on from the nearby store, something Drayton absolutely did, coming back from said store with at least 4 bags of snacks in his hands. The girls had gone to get some iced coffees leaving Crispin and Kieran to mind the bags while they did. Now that there was a small lull in their trip Kieran began feeling nervous again.
He hadn’t seen Juliana in months since her stay as an exchange student ended. They’d kept in touch mostly through letters but also the occasional phone call when Carmine agreed to let him borrow her phone. At the time he still hadn’t had a rotom phone yet, but he had one now and was excited to finally add her as a contact. No more days of pacing in his room to work up the nerve to ask to borrow Carmine’s phone again for the second time in a week. He spun the phone around in his hands, wondering how he’d ask for her number. He imagined bringing it up casually and cooly mentioning he had a phone of his now and how he’d love to have the number to such a lovely lady~
He groaned at the thought of himself trying to be suave and using a cheesy pick up line, his hands shooting up to cover his face, promptly smacking himself with the phone still in his hands. He could see Crispin jolt next to him out of the corner of his sight, likely surprised that Kieran had just smacked himself in the face with his phone randomly. He let out another groan, this one of pain and regret.
< I could NEVER ask her like that! I’m not cool enough for a line like that to work, why did you even come up with that, brain?! I’m embarrassing myself here! Thank Arceus Drayton isn’t here. >
Stupid thoughts aside, he knew eventually he had to put on a brave face and tell her how he felt. He was secretly hoping he could do that on this trip, maybe go somewhere where it’s just the two of them and then tell her when the mood was right. And then maybe she’d say that she-
“Crispin! They got them spicy snacks you like. I got some bags for us!” Drayton’s loud voice pulled Kieran out from his daydream as he walked up to Crispin who was seated next to Kieran. Crispin gave a quick thanks as he took one of the bags, about to open it but stopping himself and putting it aside.
“I should save it for the plane. We’re gonna start boarding soon anyway.” he said as the girls started filling the remaining seats around them. The announcement signaling it was time to start boarding chimed and soon they were lining up to get on board.
They slowly made their way to their seats in the economy section and started trying to find their seats. Carmine and Amarys found theirs right away in row 35 while Kieran and Crispin found theirs in row 32. Kieran had just sat down in the middle seat when Lacey came up to their row looking at the number on her ticket, down at the window seat next to Kieran and then to Crispin who gave a happy smile at the idea of being near her for the flight. Before Kieran could even get up to let her in however Carmine came across the way and started pulling Lacey away.
“Lacey you’re switching with Drayton. NO WAY am I sitting next to him for 7 hours.” Carmine said before walking off and dragging Lacey with her. Lacey made no attempt to argue though she did give Crispin an apologetic look as she was dragged away. Crispin flopped into his aisle seat with a look of dejection on his face. His chance at getting closer to Lacey literally dragged away from him.
Not long after Drayton came over to take his newly appointed seat.
“Do you want us to just scoot over one?” Crispin asked as Drayton leaned on the seat in front of him.
“Nah, my ticket says the window seat now so that’s what I’ll take. ‘Scuse me.” Drayton said, leaving no time between saying that and clambering past the two of them to get to said window seat. Both Crispin and Kieran scrunched in their seats as much as they could to let him through with so little warning.
Once Drayton sat down he placed the backpack he was carrying under the seat in front of him, almost smacking into Kieran as he removed it if not for Kieran watching and avoiding it. His complaints fell on deaf ears. He had just sat down and was about to buckle when Crispin spoke up.
“Ya know, I thought you’d rather have the aisle since there’s more leg room. Never thought you’d be a window seat kinda guy.” he said with an inquisitive tone to his voice, confused at the choice of seat. Drayton stopped in mid reach for the seat buckle and looked up at Crispin.
“Are you offering? Because leg room is definitely better than the window for me.” Drayton said, giving a big smile at the offer, getting back up and grabbing his bag.
“Uh.. Yeah. Sure. I don’t mind.” Crispin replied hesitantly, noticing the look of annoyance of Kieran’s face.
“Are ya kidding me? Why didn’t ya ask before ya sat down?!” Kieran complained as Drayton moved past him again, having to scrunch again and stay like that until Crispin had moved into his new seat. He could hear the person behind him grumbling about kids nowadays and to just hurry up and sit down.
With Crispin and Drayton now in their new seats everything seemed to settle down a bit. Everyone was ready for take-off and soon the plane was on its way.
Being a 7 hour flight meant needing to do something entertaining and Kieran’s idea was to watch some Kaiju movies with Crispin. When he pitched the idea earlier in the week Crispin was ecstatic and had mentioned he’d bought a headphone splitter to watch movies with him hopefully. Kieran knew he really meant Lacey, but was happy to be included anyway.
“So, which one we starting with?” Crispin said, excitedly looking through the movies listed as available.
“I was thinking of starting with ‘Volcarona from the Depths’ and then ‘Mecha Tyranitar strikes again’ and then finally the new one with both Tyranitar and Volcarona fighting the Gigantomaxxed Duraladon.” Kieran rattled the titles off effortlessly and the order he intended to watch them in.
“You gonna watch all three?” Crispin asked incredulously, stopping to glance at his friend who nodded enthusiastically before he returned to seeing what else they had available “Oh hey, they have ‘Planet of the Primeapes’, that was good. Do you think they have the ‘Great Galar Bake-off’ on here?”
“Yall watching movies? Let me watch too!” Drayton exclaimed, nudging Kieran’s shoulder earning a groan of disdain.
“Drayton, we only have one splitter.” Kieran said dryly, holding up the single splitter that Crispin had brought that was plugged into the screen. Drayton gave a smile before holding up a similar splitter.
“No prob, I got my own.” he replied before getting to work on plugging his splitter into Crispin’s splitter.
“You want me to split the headphone splitter? Is that even going to work?” Kieran questioned, watching as Drayton finished up with a quick “Won’t know till ya try.” With the splitters all situated and cables running in three directions Kieran started up the first of the three movies. After the first 10 minutes Kieran noticed that Drayton kept having a confused look on his face and paused the movie to look at him. Drayton took that as an opportune time to ask what he really wanted.
“Sooo why aintcha watching it in Galarian?” he asked, noticing Crispin perk up at the question as well. Kieran gave him the most matter of fact look before replying.
“It was filmed in Kanto so I’m watching in its original language because dub is an abomination and an affront to the medium.” He shrugged as he replied as if that was the most obvious answer possible.
“I can’t read the subtitles as fast as they speak.” Drayton replied with a shrug. And to Kieran’s surprise Crispin chimed in from beside him “Yeah…sorry, I agree.”
“Right..” Kieran sighed before going over to the language settings and changing them. “I forget ya don’t speak Kantonese…. Fiinneee. I’ll change it to dub. You’re welcome.” He could put up with the language change long as they gave it the proper respect it deserved and watched it.
If only that was true. They had managed to watch the first movie just fine albeit interrupting to ask questions or pass snacks between Drayton and Crispin with Kieran unfortunately in the middle but halfway through the second movie Kieran noticed Crispin nodding off and soon he was asleep on Kieran’s shoulder. That was annoying on its own but when Drayton nodded off too and also ended up leaning on Kieran effectively trapping him in place he was beyond annoyed. He could still reach the screen at least so when this movie ended he’d be able to start the third one.
Except he fell asleep as well. Carmine had come by to check up on Kieran halfway through the flight to find the three guys asleep. As any good big sister would do she took a picture that she was absolutely going to be sending to Juliana later. With a small snicker she returned to her seat to show the girls the scene she’d just witnessed.
Kieran and Crispin startled awake when the announcement came over the speakers and through the headphones still in their ears.
“Greetings everyone, this is your Captain speaking. We are now beginning our descent into lovely Paldea and will be landing in Levincia shortly. Please ensure all trays are upright and your seat belts are fastened. The temperature in Paldea is a wonderful 77 degrees and local time is 8:25am. Thank you for flying with us today and enjoy your stay!”
< Whuh….Wait..We’re landing already?! Aww man, I didn’t get to watch the last movie… >
Kieran gave a yawn and started to stretch but noticed Drayton still leaning on him. He shoved him off enough that he woke up with a jolt.
“Huh..Whuh..What’s going on?” he said through mid stretch. “What time is it?”
“We’re landing soon.” Kieran replied, unplugging the headphones and splitters and giving them back to their respective owners before rolling up his own to put back in the pouch it came from.
“Dang. I didn’t get to eat all the snacks I brought.” Drayton complained, rummaging through his bag to find the container for the splitter before shoving it into the bag entirely.
Despite everything Kieran couldn’t help but feel excited now. Within minutes he’d be stepping onto Paldean soil and soon he’d be seeing Juliana again. And while he was still nervous about giving her the gift he’d spent hours and sleepless nights on, he was excited to see how she would react to it, hopefully positively.
They landed in Levinicia finally, disembarking the plane with excited conversations amongst themselves until the whole group was able to get back together. They left to grab their luggage from the carousel which took longer than they thought but luckily no one’s luggage had gotten lost. When they exited the airport to take a taxi over to their accommodations in the main section of Levincia city they were surprised by the need to take two taxis as cars weren’t very prevalent here.
Even more surprising was the fact that the taxis were flown with four colored birds with a wide coif of what looked like hair in black despite the colors. The taxi Kieran got on with his sister and Crispin had two blue, one green and one yellow of these birds. He stared at them slack jawed in surprise, he’d known that Galar used Corviknights to fly around and he’d learned from Juli that Corviknights were around in Paldea but they weren’t being used for the taxis. The driver noticed Kieran staring before giving a soft chuckle.
“They’re called Squawkabiliy.” she said, watching as Kieran jumped from the sudden line being spoken to him. He felt embarrassed to have been caught staring at them so much that the driver felt the need to talk about them. From behind he could hear his sister laughing at him before she gently pushed him towards the cab.
“Hi, this is the address of the hotel we’re staying at.” Carmine held up her phone to the taxi driver who nodded and gave her a broad smile.
“That’s a quick flight from here, we’re ready to go when you are.” she replied, watching Carmine nod and go into the cab herself. When it looked like they were ready to go the birds lifted the cab up into the sky, flying around buildings and down streets until they reached their destination, a short 10 minute ride from the airport.
They paid for the ride upon landing and exiting, regrouping with the others to get checked in to their hotel. They wouldn’t be seeing Juli until tomorrow but they had the rest of the day free so after checking in they had agreed to check out the local cityscape, try some food and just get a general feel for Levincia.
Tomorrow, they would take another taxi over to Nemona’s house for the party and it was that exciting thought that Kieran went to sleep with when they crashed at the hotel at the end of the day.
< I’ll see you soon Juli. >