After fixing the small mess that her Pokémon had created, Juliana had left her dorm room to meet with Arven. She had received a text from him saying that he was done with his classes and was interested in hanging out more. Being free for the rest of the day, she said yes.

She walked with an extra spring in her step, "I want to try to build up more stamina. So, I should suggest we go walking!"

She quickly spotted Arven in the entrance hall, she approached him and called out, "Arven!"

He turned to her and smiled, "Hey Juliana!"

She quickly took his hand and they began walking, "I was thinking we could go walking somewhere! I need to improve my leg stamina…"

He replied, "That sounds great I would love to! But… improve your leg stamina? Did something happen?"

Juliana explained, "I went running with Nemona, Eri, and Miss Dendra. I had trouble keeping up with them once we really got going… That made me realize I may have relied on Koraidon a little too much… haha…"

"Ah, I see." Arven understood, "Well that's no problem, we can fix that! We just have to pick a place. Anywhere you'd like to go?"

"Hmm… I haven't decided on that." Juliana pondered, "Still… you should've seen Eri… she ran like she was just casually walking. I don't know how she did that!"

"Eri? Isn't she one of those Team Star leaders? That really tall one?"

"Yeah, that's her!" Juliana affirmed, "She's so cool! Hard to believe she had such a rough time at this academy before…"

Arven was still a little wary, "Hmm… well, I'm glad you're happy Juliana. At least they're finding their place here."

"That's right!"

Another voice came from behind them, "Hey guys." The couple turned around to see Penny approaching them.

"Hi Penny! What's up?" Juliana greeted.

She adjusted her glasses, "Just got outta art class, I was ready to go meet with some of my old pals. I heard you had a battle with Mela today, Juliana. And I heard you won."

"She still put up a really good fight!" Juliana encouraged, "It was such a fun battle, I was a bit surprised she invited me though!"

Penny raised her eyebrows, "She invited you? I'm actually not surprised at that. She was telling me through text earlier that she was a bit peeved at having lost to you again, but she enjoyed it."

"I could tell she was annoyed haha…" Juliana chuckled, "I think she was happy to see my Dachsbun again too! You know, Mela might be a little rough around the edges, but I know she's a good person!"

Penny nodded at that, "She is. She's just super shy, like me you know? But she tries to hide it by being overly aggressive. You're right though, she is a good person." She then looked at Arven, "How've you been Arven?"

Arven gave a small smile, "I've been good, Juliana and I were about to go for a walk."

Juliana eagerly explained, "Nemona, Eri, and Miss Dendra totally kicked my butt at running today! I need to improve my stamina!"

Penny gave an amused expression, "You all ran together? Oh, I would have gotten some popcorn to watch that! I bet Eri beat all of you."

"She did!" Juliana confirmed, "How the heck does she do that!?"

Penny chuckled, "She's just really into the athletics. Anyway, I'll let you two go on your little date now. See you around!" She waved.

"Bye Penny! See you later!" Juliana waved back. Arven also gave a small wave and the two left together.

It was another sunny day with some puffy white clouds in the sky, Juliana looked up at the sky and asked, "So where should we head to?"

Arven checked out his rotom phone, "Let's see… how about here?" He pointed at a random spot. Juliana looked and saw he was pointing at. The north area of the West Province, the Pokemon Center south of the Asado Desert.

"That's next to the desert, where we fought that monstrous titan!" Juliana remembered, "Okay, let's go!"

Arven replied, "Yeah? Then let's get going!"

They called a flying taxi to travel. Once they were aboard and were in the air, Arven gave his idea, "I figured we could walk down the road to Cascarrafa. Then once we get there, we can cross the desert to Porto Marinada."

Juliana became excited, "Oh, I remember Porto Marinada! It's been a while since I've been there! Oh, those crepes that the lady was selling were soooooo tasty! You have to try one Arven!"

Arven chuckled, "Haha! Is that so?

"Especially the strawberry chocolate one! That one was absolutely the best!

"All right then, I guess I'll have to try one once we get there!" Arven agreed, "With how energetic you're getting over it, it has to be good! Haha!"

Once they got to their destination, Juliana looked down the path before them, "We could have more sandwiches later too!"

Arven laughed, "Of course we will! Don't worry, I brought all the ingredients!"

Juliana noticed the large flags that Team Star had assembled long ago still standing strong. Initially, it was a symbol of rebellion and power, now it stood as a reminder of what they had all been through, and how far they had come since then. She now saw them as an icon of redemption and union.

Arven took notice of them, "Wow, they really had a lot of time on their hands huh? Those Team Star guys…"

"They did." Juliana agreed, "But they've gotten to better themselves since then. And it was because the Academy had improved too."

"You can't deny that you've had a strong influence on them too, cutie." Arven remarked.

Juliana got a little embarrassed, "I guess you can say that. Penny was the one that reached out to me first however. If it wasn't for her, I probably wouldn't have been involved."

Arven shook his head, "Well, it was entirely up to you whether you went or not. And you chose to go."

Juliana thought about it, "You know, when I was first getting involved I thought I was just teaching some punks a lesson. But as time went on I wondered… what if I was fighting on the wrong side? What if I'm misunderstanding things?"

Arven took a deep breath, "Well, you can't deny they've had it rough. Nonetheless, it must have been quite a venture. Of course, nothing can top what you and I have been through!" He smiled.

Juliana smiled, "That's right…" After saying that, Juliana felt one of her Pokeballs shaking in her bag.

"Hang on a sec…" She looked into her bag and saw it was the heal ball containing her Tinkaton shaking, "Oh dear… that little firecracker wants to come out and play."

"Little…?" Arven asked, but then realized, "Wait, are you talking about Tinkaton?"

"Mm-hmm." Juliana affirmed, took the heal ball, and tossed it upward, "Okay you firecracker, come on out."

The steel/fairy type popped out the ball with a skip in her step, wielding that massive hammer. She rushed up to the pair and hopped three times, giggling. Arven looked at the humanoid Pokémon with wide, shocked eyes, "Ah yes, I remember you. You're the one that kept whacking rocks into the air at those Corviknight in Area Zero."

Tinkaton made a mischievous smile at that while striking a cute pose.

"That's her." Juliana nodded, "At least she kept them away from us. Haha… Did you know that Tinkaton and Corviknight are enemies by nature? That made for some fun situations…"

Tinkaton giggled gleefully, Arven replied, "Oh, I bet. Especially with how spunky she is."

They continued walking while Juliana explained, "Well… there was this one time we were having a little picnic, and a Corviknight just happened to pass by… and… she just couldn't help herself and found the biggest rock she could find and sent it soaring right at it with that big hammer of hers…"

Arven's eyes widened, "Dang."

Juliana continued, "That Corviknight was owned by a trainer… I had never apologized so many times in my life. I was so embarrassed."

Tinkaton's grin faded, and she put her hands behind her back and swayed lightly, looking toward the ground.

"I hope that trainer wasn't too mad." Arven replied.

"No, he wasn't thankfully. He told me he was aware of the natural rivalry between the two Pokémon. So, he took it pretty humorously. We also decided to have a battle, so that turned out good."

Arven smiled, "Well, it's good to know everyone was happy in the end. So, I'm curious. How'd you get Tinkaton?"

"I first met her when she was a tinkatink in area two of the south province. She was being attacked by wild starly."

Tinkaton took a tough stance, stood back several steps and spun once to swing her hammer. Juliana giggled at this, "Yes, we know you're really tough now. You would wipe the floor with anybody now, you little firecracker."

Tinkaton responded to this by standing proudly.

Arven was curious, "That sounds like it was quite an event. So… what exactly happened?"

"It's a bit funny thinking about it now. I had just caught my Dachsbun as a Fidough at the time. I had picked up her Pokeball and was wondering what else could I find out here. Then that's when I heard a cry, and I looked up and saw her running with starly chasing her, poor baby…"

Tinkaton crossed her arms with a pouty face.

FLASHBACK

Juliana was caught off-gaurd as she realized there was a little tinkatink running away from some starly that were relentlessly chasing her. Before she could react, Juliana's rotom dex read to her,

Tinkatink, the metalsmith Pokémon.

"It swings its handmade hammer around to protect itself, but the hammer is often stolen by Pokémon that eat metal."

Juliana looked up and realized they were running right for her. The starly locked eyes on her, making both Juliana and the attacking bird freeze in their spots.

The Rotom dex read,

Starly, the starling Pokémon

"They flock around mountains and fields, chasing after bug Pokémon. Their singing is noisy and annoying."

Koraidon, who was standing behind Juliana, faced the starly and let out a roar. This caused the starly to panic and flap away hastily. When they were gone, Juliana looked down at the little pink Pokémon, still crying a little from fright.

"Aww, you're so adorable!" Juliana fawned, "Were those mean birds bothering you? Aww…"

Sprigatito and Fidough stared at the Tinkatink from behind Juliana's legs, wagging their tails curiously. Tinkatink stared back at them, before shaking her hammer like a baby rattle. Juliana kneeled down on the ground, "You're so cute! And I think you can grow and be big and strong too! Do you wanna come with us?"

The Tinkatink looked curiously at the human, who took out a heal ball, "You could travel in this, it should heal your wounds too!"

Tinkatink remained still, calmly considering what her options would be. After a few moments, she nodded in agreement.

Juliana happily replied, "You will? Oh, yay! That's great! We'll have so much fun, come on!" She used the heal ball to capture Tinkatink, who didn't put up any struggle.

"Ha! Well, catching another Pokémon that quickly after just having caught a different one! Wow, this must be my lucky day!"

Fidough looked at Sprigotito with a curious expression, the grass-type nodded comfortingly as if to say, 'Yeah, she's always energetic like that.'

"Come on guys, let's go!" Juliana encouraged her growing team, and they kept moving onward.

END OF FLASHBACK

Arven laughed at the wholesome story, "That's so adorable! What a sweet little story!"

Juliana grinned, "It is, isn't it!?"

Tinkaton bounced three times with a smile while giggling.

Arven observed, "I can't say I'm surprised that Koraidon helped out with that situation, even though at the time its full strength hadn't returned."

Juliana nodded, "Same here Arven." She then looked ahead and saw that they were nearing Cascarrafa, "Hey look! We're almost there!"

"Great! That took no time at all!" Arven observed. After saying that Tinkaton hopped between the two. Placing her hammer down, she took both their hands and lifted herself off the ground, using their arms like a swing.

"Tinkaton!" Juliana reacted, "Okay, you little firecracker. Time for you to return." The fairy/steel type picked up her hammer and hesitantly agreed to go back into her heal ball.

Arven began snickering, Juliana looked at him, "What's so funny?" she asked with a nervous smile.

Arven shook his head, "That Tinkaton… she's spunky, playful, always getting into something… yeah, she's the perfect Pokémon for you Juliana."

"Oh, Arven…! Juliana responded with a blush while he continued to laugh. They entered Cascarrafa just as a sandstorm kicked up. The couple quickly put their arms up to shield their eyes.

"Quick, in the shop!" Arven directed, and they rushed into a Sure Cans to wait the storm out.

Author's Note: Not gonna lie... I totally fawned over the image of Sprigatito and Fidough hiding behind Juilana's legs and wagging their tails while watching with curious wide eyes XD SO CUTE!

Hope you all enjoyed!