The big day had come. Momo made it through midterms with flying colors, and now it was time for the Treasure Hunt to finally begin. She made sure to get up and get ready on time, then Nemona practically let herself into her dorm, and then the two of them rushed to the schoolyard for Director Clavell's grand briefing.

"You will journey together, learn new things together, share each other's thoughts and feelings, and find something you might always treasure!"

The clamoring on the field was at an all time high as Clavell started wrapping up his grand speech. Momo couldn't help herself with her devilishly cheeky smirk from how excited she was. And just like that, finally, it was time for her grand adventure to begin.

There was a bit of an altercation at Mesagoza after Momo stepped out, however. Nemona, Arven, and Cassiopeia all gathered and started arguing on where Momo should be headed first. She never thought she'd see two colleagues and her phone fighting over her, but she felt very flattered all the same. This was the most attention she had ever received, ever. Though that did leave her wondering where Penny was, likely spending her independent study session cooped up as usual, Momo figured.

At last, the arguing bunch split, and at the very least, Mirage felt like helping out by giving Momo a slick new ride. About time all those sandwiches she bought paid off.

When she was ready to depart from the big city, she flipped a coin before ultimately deciding to head west. There was a bit of adjusting to Mirage's mode of transportation, a stumble and a toss here and there, but at the very least, Momo made good time. She was at least thankful she packed extra clothes. A good day of breezing and battling through vast olive fields earned her the destination of Cortondo, and it was a good thing there were pastry and sandwich shops for her to get her starving fill in.

With the day gone so soon, the bright building of the Pokémon Gym nearby shone ever more prominently against the night sky. Momo debated on trying her luck with a Gym Badge while she was there, though she quickly remembered her Pokémon team of an astounding one. Mirage may have been willing to be the ride, but he still found himself ducking away from battles for some reason. Diego did evolve into a Crocalor earlier, but Momo didn't exactly want to blow through it all with one Pokémon. She wanted to do this right, with at least some semblance of a team backing her up, and to do that, she needed to catch some more Pokémon.

And with that idea still stewing over in her head, she took out her phone.

"Hey… guy from the lighthouse, right?" Momo smirked. "Yeah, yeah, I'm at Cortondo. Say, do any of those Titan Pokémon you've been talking about happen to be close to where I am?"

The crack of dawn made itself known far above, and Momo shot off the first chance she got. She knew of the treacherous hike awaiting her, and she wanted to get herself a head start as soon as possible. While she got up a bit too early for Diego or Mirage to be awake enough to do much, Momo was still confident. She was sure she didn't need burning or rubber, because she knew her own thorough travel skills were enough to get through this hike on her own.

"I should've practiced my cardio more…"

Leaving the breezy fields of Cortondo was already a bit of a climb. The ground became more mountainous, and there may have been another incident involving a river when Momo forgot about the bridge around the corner. There was another silent thanks for extra clothes, and then a rest break to admire the nearby waterfall. Roughing it sure was rough, alright. Those dry rocky paths were like stairs, but worse.

At last, through winding paths past windmill towers, Momo looked up to wipe the sweat from her brow, then saw the winged shadow cast from high above.

"There you are, Bombirdier!" Never before had she been so enthusiastic to see a giant, foreboding shadow blocking out the sky. "You're mine, titan!"

The massive stork took off from its perch atop a watchtower and started making its way towards the mountains. Momo took off at a breakneck pace, the sight of her goal energizing her enough to hike up the increasingly steep path. And then came the boulders.

"Whoa-"

Momo stumbled, but instead of hitting the ground, she fell onto the purple hide of her Miraidon. Mirage shattered the incoming boulders as he charged ahead, and Momo clung to him as he weaved and dodged the rest.

"Whew, thanks Mirage!" Momo's confident smirk returned, and she held onto Mirage as if she was revving him. "Now let's toast this thing!"

Their pursuit was picking up as they ascended the side of the mountain path, following the path of the Bombirdier's shadow. As they caught up, they were hot on its tail, quite literally once Momo placed her Crocalor on Mirage's head like a makeshift flamethrower. While they revved closer, the boulders hurled their way started to thin out, and Momo started to wonder why the Bombirdier wasn't fighting back. The titan of the skies shot ahead, almost as if it was trying to flee to the top of the mountain.

The Bombirdier stopped by the mountain's peak, where a dusty clearing was. It drove its long beak into the mountain wall, pulling out a clump of glowing herbs that it quickly scarfed down. By the time Momo caught up, the Bombirdier started flaring up with revitalizing energy that coursed through its body. She only had a moment to widen her eyes before Mirage suddenly braked to a stop, sending her tumbling forward against the ground.

The Miraidon froze as the Bombirdier looked down upon him. It let out a screeching cry, and all Mirage could do was helplessly cower against the noticeably territorial creature. He fled back into his Pokéball in the backpack by Momo's side, where she was still recovering from her sudden launch. She dusted her jacket off, spat out some sand, then brought her Crocalor to her side as she gazed up at the foe that continued to circle them.

"I don't know why Mirage was so afraid of you, but you'll pay for that! Incinerate them, Diego!"

Spewed flames met feathers, and the Bombirdier faltered in its flight. With a forceful flap of its wings, it put out the fire on itself, then threw out rocks from its pouch. Momo was fortunately a ways away from the incoming Rock Tomb, but her Crocalor wasn't so lucky.

"Diego!"

All Momo could do was rush to his side where the overwhelming gravel piled up. Just like that, her only Pokémon that could battle was down for the count, and with the way the Bombirdier circled the skies above, she had a feeling she was next. She returned her Crocalor into his ball, shut her eyes, heard the sound of boulders crumbling nearby, and sniffled. Just like that, she was all alone again.

Then, there were footsteps.

"Nacli! Smack Down!"

Momo's eyes shot open. She recognized that hefty backpack anywhere. Arven was back, commanding some sort of little rock Pokémon that shot out little rock bullets that pulverized the Bombirdier's dropped projectiles. A reverse hailstorm of rocks continued to spray at the sky as Momo found herself staring with quivering eyes. Then in a harsh blow, the Bombirdier was struck, and with a pained cry, it shrunk down as it fell towards them.

With a sudden movement, Momo pulled a Great Ball out. She came here for a reason, and now was her chance to finish this. Without a second thought, she took off after the descending bird. The falling Bombirdier disappeared into the thrown Great Ball, and Momo leapt to hold on to the shaking capsule with a desperate grip and a silent plea.

"Please stay in, please stay in…"

It stayed in. The sound of that final click gave Momo the relief she needed, and she almost wanted to faint as the sounds of falling pebbles still echoed around her. That Bombirdier may have shrunken down to a less than massive size, but a titan was still a titan. Momo was glad enough to have made it out of that scrap with something to say for it.

"That was… rocky. Titan Pokémon… obtained…" Momo sat on the ground, out of breath, then looked to where Arven was. "Hey, thanks. I was lucky you came in when you did."

There was a proud, triumphant look on his face. "I was lucky enough to be able to sneak up here because that titan had all its attention on you, of course! Trying to drop rocks on folks is dangerous! At least we gave that thing a taste of its own medicine!" The victory clearly psyched him up, though his voice quieted down as he approached her. "Are you okay there, little buddy?"

"Huh?" While the Pokéball Momo was holding stopped shaking, she still was. It took Arven's worried expression for her to realize that. She quickly picked up on that and picked herself up. "Oh, I'm good. Never better. Look, I even caught the titan and everything." With a nervous smile, she held out the Pokéball she was holding, though she decided not to risk anything and quickly shoved it into her bag.

"That's a relief." With an assured nod, Arven turned towards the cave opening that was bored open. "There has to be more of that Herba Mystica it ate in here. Come on, let's go. I'll even make you a sandwich for your troubles."

Arven hurried off, and as Momo got up to do the same, her legs still felt shaky. Still, seeing how unusually excited and giddy Arven was to win that battle surprised her. It was the first time she saw him not being grumpy or worrying over something, at least, for the most part, but her thoughts skimmed over that last part. She wondered for a moment if that was also the first time he had won anything at all, and mulling over the idea had her giggling to herself as her smirk returned. She was feeling pretty hungry, after all.

"Wait, he said he was going to make me a sandwich, right?" And with that, she was off.

For a cave that had to be broken into, it was surprisingly roomy, and amidst the spaces of moss, there was a more radiant plant-like glow that stood further in. With a mischievous smirk, Momo asked if she could eat it, Arven told her not to eat it straight away, and Momo had to be physically held back from plucking it as Arven dutifully recited health benefits for what this Herba Mystica thing had. Helps with blood circulation, toasts you right up, that kind of stuff. Momo didn't really mind what it did as long as it was something she could sink her teeth into.

"No, for the last time, it's not a weed!" Arven had to physically lift her by her waist and placed her opposite of him. "I don't even know why you keep snickering about that, Oddish aren't even native to Paldea. If you want to earn this sandwich, you're going to have to put your hankering aside for just a bit. Go find somewhere to sit while I set everything up. Is that alright, little buddy?"

"Oh, alright." Momo crossed her arms and pouted. Again with the little buddy thing. "Grumpy worrywart."

While Arven was off using his backpack to do who knows what, Momo was glad she found a nice, flat rock for her to sit on and wait on. As opposed to the… less than nice, mean rocks that were being tossed her way. Rocks that would've been hurled her way once she was alone and defenseless. The thought process continued rolling—actually, spiraling from there, and Momo was tempted to start cradling herself where she sat. She took a deep breath, then let it out. She took another deep breath, then let it out. She took another deep breath, and then the smell of something warm perked her up.

"You're shivering again, Momo." Arven was holding a plate with a wrapped sandwich out to her. "I don't blame you, it's really windy up here. Here, I just got this done. Eating it should warm you right up."

Momo's shaky smile returned. She silently accepted it, unwrapped it, and took a good whiff of the delectable hoagie bunned creation. The smell of home economics class never felt more relieving to her. When she bit into it, she was momentarily offput by the immediate bitter taste, but the warmth of the ground herb flakes on her tongue soothed any sort of reaction she would've had. It tasted a bit like medicine, with the same warmth that came from being comfortably wrapped up, but also packing the crisp delectable hoagie buns alongside the other ingredients that balanced the flavor out.

"This is really gooood…" Momo cooed, and then she took more and more bites.

"Is it that good?" Arven spoke from his own rock seat, chewing his own sandwich with a less than impressed look. "From the way you're still shaking, it's either you're still cold or you're just that giddy from how this thing tastes." He paused as he took another bite of his. "Hmm… I probably could've used some other ingredients to balance out the bitterness because wow, I did not expect these herbs to have this kind of kick-"

"Hey! It's perfect!" Momo spat. She had gotten up in protest, even sounding offended about it. "I don't want you to change a thing! Trust me, the last sandwich I sneakily took a bite out of tasted like soap, so I know what's up!"

"Okay, okay!" Arven used a plate to shield his face as Momo spoke, then grimaced at the floor. "Also please don't speak with your mouth full and chew with your mouth closed. These aren't exactly run of the mill ingredients we're working with here, so I wouldn't want them to go to waste by getting them everywhere."

Momo got back to eating, Arven got back to eating, and then Momo's backpack started rustling when a certain someone else wanted in on the eating action as well. Mirage appeared, yawned, and stretched with a twitching snout. He sniffed at the morsels on the floor, then scoped out the source when his nose brought him to Momo's side. With a delighted cry, he insistently started nudging her shoulder with his snout.

Arven got up from his seat of stone, stepping closer with a furrowed brow as he saw what was going on. "... Hey now. No. That's not for you."

Momo looked at Arven with a cheeky smile, then at her Miraidon, and giggled. "Alright, Mirage. You did bring me here, after all. And how can I say no to a hungry sandwich eater like yoooou?"

After coddling him with more kissy faced words, Momo passed the half eaten delicacy to him. The Miraidon snapped up in his jaws and took to carrying it to another corner of the area to eat, scarfing it down rather rigorously. All the while, Arven watched the entire thing unfold with shocked bewilderment.

Momo looked up at him expectantly, her legs dangling off the rock as she swayed in her seat. "Come on, my weird not-Cyclizar's gotta eat. You prepared extra, right?"

"Prepared… extra…" Arven breathed in. "Well." With clenched fists, Arven looked at Mirage scarfing it down, then at Momo, then at Mirage, then at Momo. "I went through all the trouble of making that for you, and you just give it away?!" With a huff, he crossed his arms. "I hope you realize that's all there was, so now there's none left for you…"

"Wait…" With a crestfallen look, Momo slowly looked down at her empty hands. "... really?"

Arven briefly faltered as Momo's looked up at him. For as boisterously as Mirage snacked in the distance, Momo's sorrowful eyes were genuine, and as her lip quivered, so did Arven's.

Arven threw his arms up with a defeated sigh. "All right! All right! Don't look at me like that! Come on, now you're making me feel like I'm the selfish jerk here!" He quickly reached for his plate. "Here, you can have mine, if you don't mind it being half eaten and all. But you'd better savor every last bite!"

"Yaaay!" Despite Arven's stern tone, Momo quickly went back to her carefree smirk, almost a bit too easily. "Nom." She took another bite, soothingly settled in her seat, and Arven sighed again.

"Think I pretty much walked into that one…" Arven slumped over, shaking his head.

"You did." Momo smirked in between slow, delicate bites. "Om nom. Thank you, grumpy worrywart."

"Yeah, yeah." Arven huffed. He turned to walk away, glared down at a pebble on the floor, then kicked it.

Momo blinked, heard the sound of stone tumbling across the ground, and froze as she shut her eyes. All at once, she felt the ground shaking again, was enveloped by the lonely darkness, and was struck with the urge to cower. With the instinct to cover her head, she dropped what she was holding, and her plate clattered against the cave floor.

Arven immediately whipped around at the noise. "Hey, those are almost fragile-"

He stopped his words when he saw Momo curled up. Instead of a cheeky or smug stare, there was just frightened sniffling as she desperately covered her head.

"Momo?" He carefully stepped closer with a worrying look. "You're not cold, are you?"

Momo's stare quickly focused on him, as if she was breaking out of a trance. "No," she spoke quietly. "You got me. I'm afraid. Still afraid. This is the second time this adventure that I ended up running into a situation that almost… went horribly for me."

Arven hesitated. "You mean, with the Bombirdier?"

Momo nodded, and with another sniffle came her watering eyes. "This is the second time this happened… and the second time I had to be saved. Those rocks almost got me, and if you weren't there, then… squish, and no more Momo…" As lighthearted as she tried to make that sound, her scared tears didn't let up as her eyes drifted elsewhere.

"Aw, no…" For a moment, Arven remained where he stood. Then he started muttering out loud, frantic in his tone. "I don't want anyone else to end up like this because of me… How do I comfort someone at a time like this? I've never tried comforting anyone before… except…"

He took a deep breath. He knelt closer to Momo, hesitating to make eye contact for only a moment before he gently placed a caressing hand on her shoulder.

"There, there… it's going to be alright, I promise," Arven whispered softly. "You're okay. You're going to be okay. Do you… want a hug?"

The sudden touch caught Momo by surprise, but she met his gaze, recognizing the sincerity in his tone, and nodded. His arms were around her, and Momo let out another breath. The hug was a bit awkward with Arven's obvious hesitation to commit to it, but his voice was soft and sincere. Momo's quivering smile slowly returned, and she gratefully hugged him back.

"You did good, little bud. You did really good, don't forget that." Arven continued reassuring her, and Momo noticed that his eyes were shut. "Because of you, we took down that mean titan, and now it can't drop any more boulders on anyone else. You did that."

"I did. I did do that." Momo sniffed, her tears staining where she leaned against him. Her smile grew as she let herself cry against his shoulder. "Thank you. For the sandwich and the save and stuff."

"Don't mention it. It's really not much."

After a moment, Arven drew back, and with a relieved sigh, he dusted off her sleeves and patted at his own. "Whew. I know you'll keep doing good, little buddy. If you still want to, that is. It's a good thing your sandwich didn't get on the floor. I'll just wrap this up and put this in your bag for you."

As Arven picked up the fallen but thankfully undamaged plate to do just that, Momo wiped her tears. She turned to check on Mirage to see him licking his lips with a satisfied look on his face. Then, a sudden aura of energy coursed through the Miraidon's body, and he reared back with an empowering roar.

"Speech functions temporarily enabled," a robotic voice spoke. "Swimming and buoyancy functions restored."

"Whoaaaa…" Momo's jaw dropped. "Wait, you can swim now?" She quickly picked herself up to pump a fist of triumph. "Yes! Now I don't have to try swimming through the rivers myself again!"

Arven looked up from the ground with a very concerned frown. "What do you mean try swimming again? Are you talking about the rivers that are infested with Basculin? Hey, are you even listening to me?"

"No more worrying about wasted soggy clothes for me!" Momo cheered.

Arven sighed, though he still found himself chuckling at her enthusiasm. He packed what was left of her sandwich and handed Momo's backpack back. "Here you go, little buddy. Nice to see your spirits rise, at least. Good to see that brute of yours got his own little power up from that sandwich, too. Even if he is… a robot. I'll just go tidy my things up now. Yep."

"Oh hey, wait." Momo looked back at him. "Can I help clean up too?"

"Oh, don't you worry about the helping!" Arven mustered a smile. "After how handily you peppered that titan, you've earned yourself a break. Just leave this all to me, and maybe we can meet again for the next titan. If you still want to, of course. I just don't want you to put yourself in danger again, alright?"

Momo couldn't hide the tenderness in her expression as she returned the smile. "If I decide to fight another titan, I'll make sure to actually fight it alongside you."

Arven's grin perked up at that, and Momo felt all the better about it as she turned to leave on Mirage's back. For as exhausting and terrifying as the mountain trek was, she definitely felt like it was worth the trip.

Momo left the cave, finding herself back on the breezy mountaintop clearing. From within the cave, Arven let out a relieved breath, taking out another freshly made sandwich and a Pokéball. Momo looked back at the cave opening, Arven looked back at the empty seat, and they both found themselves muttering something.

"I really owe you…"

It had been a tiring day, and once it was back to just her and the olive fields, Momo found herself ringing up a Flying Taxi. All that adventuring left her body sore, and she figured she wanted an actual bed to lie in for the rest of the day. At least she was free to come back to her dorm room whenever she wanted. And so it was back to the academy for her, back to her dorm, with her special stuff, and her sweet, sweet air conditioning. She was looking forward to seeing if Penny was up to watch some anime, but she wasn't around, which Momo found strange. Didn't pick up her calls either. Oh well.

After going back to her usual routine of studying on her phone among other things for the next few hours, Momo flopped onto her bed, feeling… satisfied enough. At least the anime she watched gave her some sick fight scenes to keep her blood pumping. Yet, her heart was still missing the comfort of relaxation for a different reason. The night was still, and she had to sleep if she wanted to get a good morning start, but dozing off soundly was easier said than done.

She made sure none of her pencils or anything would fall off her desk, but as she closed her eyes, the fear of things shaking still festered in the darkness. The chill felt like a formidable gust of wind, and she clung to her blanket tighter. Her sleeping Crocalor was curled up cozily against her, but she still felt the need to glance at him every so often to make sure he and that egg on his head were still okay. All she could think about was how this was the second time her misplaced hubris put her in a life or death situation, only somehow this was worse than the first. Was it because… she was truly alone in that fight?

Momo shook her head. She couldn't be cowardly at a time like this. Her Treasure Hunt just started. She had to sleep, but she just ended up tossing and turning in her sheets with a muddled mind. She looked at her posters, thinking of what Plasma the Pawmot would do, thinking of all the solidarity and camaraderie he went through that made her feel warm. Then she thought of warm things, like how that Herba Mystica sandwich felt like the treatment of a comforting hug. Then she thought of the actual comforting hug she got, recalling the faint scent of pepper, the supportive reassurance that came with it, and the way he just let her cry into him. She felt that warmth all the way down to her heart.

"I stopped the titan. I stopped the boulders. No more boulders, for me or for anyone else." She looked to the ceiling, steeling herself with all the determination she had. "I did that. Because… I was brave. And because he was there to help."

The hug was what stayed to mind more than anything. It was surprising, it was reassuring, it was comforting, even gentle, all traits that Momo absolutely did not expect from that grumpy worrywart. She spent a good moment wondering why he of all people in this school was nice to her, or where that urge to comfort even came from. He even gave her his sandwich and put it back in her bag for her, which was unexpectedly gentlemanly of him.

"Oh, right, that should still be in my backpack…"

She got up from her bed to take that out. Didn't want any of her stuff spoiling overnight, after all. While she was tempted to bite open that plastic bag to gorge on the goodness inside, she knew she wasn't hungry enough for that, so she just stored it in her dorm's minifridge.

As she did that, she took a moment to look out her room's window. She let Mirage out to wander a while ago, and she wondered if she could still see him in the depths of night. True enough, even at such an hour, there was no mistaking that purple sheen. By Mesagoza's little pond, she saw that Miraidon of hers happily wading around, probably scaring off the Finneon in the process. Momo smiled at the sight and the idea, remembering what she did all this for. Definitely, absolutely, super duper worth it.

Momo giggled and smirked, letting out a satisfied sigh as she leaned out the windowsill. "I'll let Mirage have some fun out there. Hopefully he's ready to get back to roughing it tomorrow, because I'm setting back out first thing in the morning!"

Her declaration of confidence was met with naught but the silence of distant Nymble and her snoring Crocalor. Still, Momo snickered to herself at just how right her boldness sounded. Then, willing herself past her hesitation, she took a Great Ball out, as well as a deep breath.

"Now, I just need to figure out what I'm going to do about you…"