Author's Note: Ha, I am back!

This is mostly a fun chapter. Nothing too crazy... there's a storm here in my area... so nah... It's been kinda blah lately.

Hope you enjoy this chapter nonethless!

The courtyard was as bustling as ever with students, several different trainers were jogging the track or battling their Pokémon. Some were resting on the benches drinking water. Juliana and Nemona arrived as a Cyclizar ran past.

"All right, we've made it to the courtyard!" Nemona enthused, "Hey Juliana, do you remember when we met up out here and battled for two straight hours!? Haha! That was a great day!"

Juliana laughed, "Ha! I remember that. Even with you catching me off-guard I still kept up fine!"

"That's something I really admire about ya Juliana! You just roll with the punches and nothin' stops ya!"

"That's me!" Juliana affirmed, "Now where are Eri and Miss Dendra?"

"They were over by the stage, let's go!" Nemona replied, and the two hurried past the tracks before anyone else could run by and through the center of the courtyard to the small wood plank stage held up by metal poles. Miss Dendra and Eri were standing there waiting.

Eri's face lit up, "Hey Juliana!" She waved, "You're gonna join us today?"

"Hey Eri!" Juliana greeted, "Yeah, I am! Nemona came to find me."

Nemona added energetically, "Oy! I can't just NOT ask Juliana to join us! She's my bestest rival after all!"

"She's told me all about it!" Eri mentioned, "It's great that you two are so close!"

Miss Dendra greeted the girls, "Nemona, I was just about to come lookin' for you! Osu! Juliana! Have you come to join us for some training?"

Juliana answered, "I am! Nemona told me that you and Eri were out here wanting to run laps! It sounded fun, so I'm here to join!"

Miss Dendra responded vigorously, "Aha! I knew I saw a fighting spirit behind those eyes of yours! Let's get the running started right away!"

Eri gave that same energy, "I'm ready to go!"

The girls all lined up on the track after Juliana set her backpack down near the stage. After a few moments of stretching their limbs, they started off with light jogging.

"It's good to warm the muscles up before doing anything heavy!" Dendra announced, "Doing it that way prevents any injuries!"

"That's some good advice ma'am!" Eri replied, "But you have to admit, feeling a bit of a burn is satisfying in its own way!"

Nemona added, "Miss Dendra is a total boss teacher! She's the best and I always enjoy her classes the most!"

"That doesn't surprise me at all!" Eri chuckled.

"That's the normal Nemona!" Juliana added playfully, "The battle machine! You know she and I met by chance out here and battled for two straight hours?"

"TWO HOURS?" Eri reacted with shock, "Sheesh, even for me that's a stretch and a half! How did you two even keep it up for that long!?"

"Hey, come on!" Nemona reacted somewhat embarrassed, "It was a fun day! We were both really hyped up because Juliana had just passed the champion assessment at the Pokémon League! I had some major battle fever!"

"No kidding!" Eri retorted, "Still, I would've loved to see that!"

Dendra laughed after listening to them, "Ahaha! All right ladies, let's pick up the pace for these last two laps. Let's go!"

The girls worked up quite a sweat running these last two rounds, and a small group of students gathered to watch. Eri dominated the race to the surprise of no one.

"Agh… Eri's so fast…" Juliana panted.

Nemona took notice too, "Oy, we're eating Eri's dust here camarada!"

"Well let's not and catch up with her!" Dendra encouraged. The last lap had the girls sent into a full-on sprint, just barely keeping up with Eri. It took all of Juliana's might to not fall totally behind. She also noticed that despite the heavy running, Eri seemed as chill as ever, hardly breaking a sweat.

"Wow, Eri is such a skilled runner! She must have done a lot of practice!"

Once the run was finished, the girls all stopped and jogged off the track back to the stage. Juliana was leaning forward with her hands on her knees, panting heavily, "Wow… I need to improve my stamina…"

"Hey, that wasn't too bad!" Nemona complimented, with sweat running off her forehead, "At least you didn't fall too far behind!"

Eri was as cool as a fan, "Wow, I'm gonna need some water."

"We all do!" Dendra declared, "Let's get under the shade and take a water break!"

Thankfully, she had bottles of ice water ready for the girls. Juliana took one for her and gulped it right down. Dendra also handed them towels, which Juliana used to wipe her face off.

Juliana suggested, "I think this school needs to issue gym clothes."

"That's a good idea!" Nemona agreed, "If we did, I would end up wearing them all the time!"

"That should be something to talk about with Director Clavell!" Dendra stated.

Eri exhaled deeply, "Whew! After that, I need a visit to the restroom."

"Me too!" Nemona spoke, "How about you Juliana?"

"No, I'm okay." Juliana declined.

"All right, we'll be right back!" Nemona waved before walking away with Eri.

Once they were gone, Miss Dendra turned to Juliana, "I gotta say Juliana, you got a strong pair of legs on ya!"

Juliana smiled, "Th-Thanks Miss Dendra… truthfully, I wouldn't call myself a runner…heheh…"

"Hey, you did great! I'm all about physical education, so I can tell you honestly that you have potential!"

Juliana thought to herself, "I think riding on Koraidon through a lot of my journey made my legs a little weak…"

Dendra went to her duffel bag, "All right, now! A good bout of training sure does make a body hungry, doesn't it?" She presented a wrapped-up sandwich, "Here Juliana, I'll let you have one of my homemade sandwiches as my way of saying thanks for joining us today! Feed those muscles!"

Despite still being full from Arven's earlier sandwich, Juliana happily accepted Miss Dendra's sandwich. When she first unwrapped it, the first thing she noticed was the lack of visual appeal.

"Huh… Arven definitely makes better looking sandwiches." She gazed upon it, "Eh, I'm sure it's fine! Miss Dendra is more into sports and battles; she probably hasn't had to the practice Arven has. So I shouldn't judge her on how her sandwiches look."

She regretted that thinking the second she took a bite, the sandwich was dry and had an odd smell. The taste left much to be desired…

"Oh my gosh… what is this..?"

Despite this, she powered through it like a true champion. It took her much longer than she would've liked to finish it, but she was thankful when she finally reached the last bite. An oblivious Miss Dendra asked, "How was it? I hope it was tasty!"

Not wanting to lie, Juliana muttered out, "Yeah… about that…"

Dendra got the hint, "Heh… sorry. I shouldn't have asked you that… I'm athletic and all, but I don't know the first thing about making good food… as your honest reaction just reminded me."

"We're back!" Nemona announced with Eri behind her. Eri noticed Juliana's facial expression and asked, "Are you okay Juliana? You look a bit sick…"

Dendra awkwardly looked back and forth between the students and excused herself, "Well, thanks for joining me today girls! Enjoy your sore muscles."

When she jogged away, Juliana explained the situation, "She gave me one of her sandwiches to try."

Nemona recoiled, "Oh… I gotcha… say no more."

"I take it you've tried one of her sandwiches before Nemona?" Juliana inquired.

She nodded, "Yeah, I have… it was… not really good… heh… I ate it anyway because I didn't want her to be sad… but…"

Juliana chuckled awkwardly, "I see… I think I should've just gone to the bathroom with you two. It wasn't a good sandwich as you may have guessed."

Eri crossed her arms, "Huh… Dendra doesn't strike me as the type to cook. She knows all about battling and stuff, and she and I both like fighting-type Pokémon! But now I know that if she offers me a sandwich she made, I'll have to politely decline."

Juliana retrieved her backpack and waved to the girls, "I'll see you two later… I'm gonna go rest in my dorm room for a while."

"Bye Juliana! Hope you feel better!" Nemona waved back, "We can battle once you do, all right?"
Juliana gave an approving gesture before leaving to return to her dorm room. Eri watched her leave, "I'm sure she'll be fine. She is Juliana after all."

Nemona agreed, "That's right! She's really strong you know? At this point, I'm convinced she can power through anything."

Eri chuckled, "Oh that note. While we're still here… you wanna train with me?"

Nemona immediately perked up, "Of course I do!"

They rushed out in the middle of the battlefield and initiated a battle right way.

Juliana entered her dorm room and locked the door. She took a deep breath, thankful the bad taste had left her mouth. That reminded her, "Oh, that's right! Koraidon, come on out!"

Koraidon popped out of its ball before she even finished speaking, this made her giggle, "Oh silly… you heard me asking Arven to make you a sandwich, didn't you?"

Koraidon nodded happily and waited eagerly, barely managing to keep still.

"Okay you silly rascal, just a minute." She placed her backpack on the kitchen counter and revealed the wrapped sandwich. Koraidon's body began vibrating with more excitement as Juliana carefully removed the wrappings.

"Here it is!" She handed the sandwich to Koraidon, who instantly chomped on it, then chewed and swallowed it down. After licking its lips, Koraidon barked happily, "Agaiii!"

"You enjoyed that huh?" Juliana spoke playfully and patted Koraidon on the head, "Did you?" Koraidon responded by nudging Juliana with its nose and licking her repeatedly. This made Juliana laugh, "Ahahaha!"

"Agai! Agaias!" Koraidon responded, before sitting down and using a back foot to scratch behind its head.

"You're so funny." Juliana noted, before patting its head again. Koraidon responded by rolling over on its back to expose its belly.

"Are you and Arven's Mabosstiff exchanging tricks or something!?" Juliana laughed.

Koraidon had an impish look on its face, suggesting that they were. Nonetheless, Juliana knelt down and began rubbing Koraidon's belly, it squealed with pure bliss.

"You and Mabosstiff really make a good team huh?"

When Koraidon fell asleep on its back, Juliana stood, went to the bathroom and turned on the shower. She undressed from her sweaty clothes and put them in the mini washer. Once the water was at a comfortable temperature, she hopped in. The warm water felt nice on her sore muscles.

"Wow… I really pushed myself out there…"

Once she was done, she hopped out and dried herself off with a towel, then changed into her loungewear. She saw the washer was done, so she put the damp clothes into the dryer and started it. She stood in front of the mirror and began brushing her hair.

Meanwhile, outside the bathroom. Juliana's Meowscarada and Dachsbun had emerged from their Pokeballs. Meowscarada had jumped on her bed and curled up to take a short nap. Dachsbun was sniffing around. Koraidon had stretched itself awake and walked over to greet its Pokepals.

Dachsbun greeted Koraidon cheerfully by briefly leaping its front paws in the air. Koraidon sniffed at Dachsbun's fragrant skin and gave a lick. The fairy-type responded by licking Koraidon back and jumping on the bed, giving Meowscarada a hopping awakening.

"Myahh!" The grass type yowled, he sized up the two Pokémon, who were looking at him with playful faces. He then tackled Koraidon and began to tickle it. Koraidon fell to the ground and tried to fight back, but Meowscarada was too fast. An excited Dachsbun joined the fray by hopping in.

Moments later, Juliana emerged from the bathroom wearing her now clean and dry uniform with her hair styled. Her heart jumped seeing the tickle fight her Pokémon were engaging in.

"Wha-!? Guys!" She called out, stopping them.

Her desk chair was tipped over, and the covers on the bed were all messed up even though she had fixed it this morning. The three Pokémon quickly stood and looked at her innocently.

Juliana giggled, "You guys…" then went to go fix the bed. As she did, she reminisced about the time she first fell for Arven…

Flashback…

Arven closed the Scarlet Book after reading the passage.

"So, does that mean a Titan's "lair" isn't really some kind of treasure hoard or whatever? It's just a pantry where the titan keeps its food?"

Juliana pondered, "That could be…"

Arven glanced down to see Mabosstiff had finished his sandwich, "Oh, you done with your sandwich Mabosstiff?"

Mabosstiff laid still for a moment, then he struggled to get up but flopped back down.

"Ruf…"

Juliana gasped lightly and thought to herself, "Oh…! He made a noise…"

Arven jumped back, "R-Ruf!? You… you heard that, right, Juliana? Mabosstiff just woofed! Right!?"

Juliana nodded, "He did…!"

"Right? I'm not imagining things!"

Mabosstiff pushed itself upward again, "…Ruff!"

"See! See that! I knew I wasn't just hearing things!" Arven was filled with hope, "Oh, Mabosstiff! Who's my best bud, huh? Who's the best of boys? You are, yes, you are!"

Juliana placed her palms together, with her fingers close to her mouth. A smile slowly emerging on her face. She could've sworn she saw a tear in Arven's eye but he quickly put his arm up to block it, "It's… it's been so long since I heard that woof!"

He regained his composure and faced Juliana, "Mabosstiff is definitely getting better! Ever since I teamed up with you, good things keep happening!"

Juliana nodded, she wanted to say something. But she felt a warm sensation bubbling within her.

Arven spoke again, "We've got two more herbs to go. Hope you'll stick it out until we're done!"

Koraidon stepped closer to Juliana and looked at Mabosstiff, "Agia!"

Juliana still felt tongue-tied, which was unlike her. She's felt nervous before, but this was different. Her heart seemed to be beating faster. Despite this, she kept a smile on her face. Koraidon looked at her, "Agais?" and nudged her.

"Ah, sorry!" She finally managed to spit out.

Arven chuckled, "Are you all right Juliana?"

She nervously stumbled with her words, "I think…so…? I-um… I don't know… I'm sorry, I'll-I'll see you later!" She rushed out of the cave.

Arven was surprised and confused, "Juliana!?" He called out to her, but she was gone. Koraidon hesitated before rushing out after her.

"What was that all about?" He wondered.

Juliana made it a good distance away before she stopped to catch her breath. Koraidon walked up to her, "Agai?"

"Sorry, Koraidon…" She apologized, "I don't know what came over me."

She continued to think about Arven, "Arven… he cares so much about his Mabosstiff… and he's so kind… Meeting him the first time you would never know, but it's true… and I gotta say… he's really cute…"

Her face flushed realizing what she was thinking, she yelled out, "Oh my gosh!" and fell to her knees, surprising Koraidon.

"What have I done to myself…?"

Koraidon leaned closer to her and began to sniff her, "Agaias!"

Juliana stood and smiled, "I'm sorry Koraidon, I'm just feeling some weird things… Haha…"