PART ONE
Juliana
Friede failed, he failed, a quitter and a failure…failed, failed.
Liko was gone, dead, crushed by rocks and dreams, and Friede didn't understand how, how, she was supposed to be safe, she was with friends, she wasn't alone, shouldn't have been alone, so why, why…
…it was a simple distraction, so why, why, why…!?
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No one knew what happened; Liko had made her way, all alone, towards the mines, far away from Levincia, far away from Friede and his crew, far away to die. No one tried to stop her, no one understood, and the few that saw her running towards her doom would mention that she seemed to be on a mission to get there, to run, run, straight to the rocks, lost, lost.
Friede remembered the Beheeyem, oh, Arceus, he remembered that damn Beheeyem.
But it was already too late.
It was a Steelix that did it, a Steelix that no one saw again.
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They had to leave the girl's body there, the rescuers couldn't get her out; the wild Pokemon had turned wild and unruly, as if they sensed the tragedy, burying the body deeper and deeper under rock and stone.
Murdock had to stop Friede from digging into the stone, Orla tried to calm him, tears spilling from her eyes, Mollie had to slap him back to reality.
Lucca didn't react at all…only heard the tragedy; it's like the world wasn't real anymore. Ludlow helped her sit down when she finally broke down, crying out for her little girl, sobbing, sobbing, and there's nothing Friede can do to make it all better, to get Liko back.
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Alex doesn't blame him for what happened; Lucca is pretty much the same, blaming herself more than Friede, the man she trusted to keep her little girl safe.
Friede wishes they'll get mad at him, wishes Alex would punch him, Lucca would scream at him…why, why…Liko was gone.
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Everything's different.
Roy's not crying anymore, he's not running to the mines to try to dig out his friend, because he wants to pretend his friend isn't gone, dead, buried, gone, gone, gone.
Murdock had found him the first time he left the Brave Asagi; he cried out, tried to tell the older man, both tearing up because it wasn't fair, it wasn't fair, he wanted to prove the world that Liko was okay, that nothing was wrong, nothing, nothing…
…he trains Fuecoco and Wattrel every day now; but he's not sure where he's going now that he's lost one of his best friends to the darkness of the world.
Dot doesn't bother coming out of her room.
Friede can't hear the crying but he overhears Murdock talking to Mollie, saying he's worried because he heard something breaking from inside the room; Nidothing is on hiatus, possibly forever.
Six months later, a miner spotted the tera crystals forming around the abandoned mine; he calls his supervisor, both men stare at the crystals, fascinated, unsure of what to do, the supervisor recalling the accident from months ago with the stupid kid that ran into the mines to get buried alive but he's already calling someone, his boss's boss, the miner thinks.
Hours later, the mine that had been closed to the world opened with a crash, crystals scattering all over and the authorities are already at work, thinking they're about to find the body of the girl that ran inside…
…but they only find some ripped clothes, dried blood, and footsteps leading to nowhere, crystals all over, drawings in the sand of Pokemon they can't recognize.
Arven's stuck.
He never should have gone to the crater, and now, six months later, six months of nothing but tears and regret, it's all a guessing game at the end. He's trying to find a miracle cure but he's not sure where to even begin.
A titan of rock, he reads, and that tells him absolutely nothing.
Arven takes a guess, picks the canyon near Artazon because that's what makes the most sense, and because he's already desperate.
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Arven's Skwovet isn't a fighter.
He's a rookie, like Arven feels, and he's useless against rock types unless he's spitting seeds to gain an advantage.
But it's a freaking Shinx that takes it down.
Arven didn't mean to run into him. He had seen something suspicious on the cliff's edge and he had run, not bothering to look where he was going. Shinx had friends too, and they chased after him, sparking and trying to bite his heels as he ran.
He meets the strange girl and her Floragato, who makes short work of them with a leafage attack, saving his hide.
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The weird girl calls herself Juliana; she's a small thing, short brown hair with a braid on the side, the Naranja Academy uniform, the shirt and tie and shorts, everything checks out. Floragato frowns beside her, glancing at his trainer as if he's trying to find something in her face.
Arven wonders what that's about.
Juliana tilts her head, and with a smile, asks him if he's looking for food; he's not, but Arven's wondering what she's on about. He knows the Treasure Hunt started last week, that's probably what she's doing here, but food? What?
He asks her if that's what she's doing for her treasure hunt, scavenging for food. Juliana shrugs with a smile. She's looking for food, same as him, and a small part of Arven wonders, just a bit, if she's looking for the Herba Mystica too.
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Juliana spots the giant Klawf hiding in the cliff.
It was just there, and Arven is horrified because how, what, when!?
The girl does all the work, or rather, Floragato does, using leafage, scattering leaves all over that hit the Klawf once, twice, thrice, critical hits all over. Skwovet watches in awe in Arven's arms, unable to look away from the display of power and agility.
Klawf runs, defeated, making way towards the many caves below; Arven can't see the titan anymore.
They find the herbs, hidden away inside stone, glowing like tera crystals for all to see as Juliana smiles, points and asks, "That's food, right?" It's the innocence of the remark that gets him and Arven can't believe his luck.
Coming back to the academy is a somber affair, Penny's worried about many things, old friends, new opportunities, expulsion if all ends well.
No one in the staff is anyone she recognizes from a year and a half ago; she's only heard about one particular teacher that had gotten back from leave months ago, a death in the family, the rumors whispered. Penny didn't pry. Miss Lucca was rather popular, if the gossip is to be believed, the staff was happy to see her again even if she's lost that bit of spark in her smile, and Penny really, really, didn't mean to pry but it's too late now, and there's nothing to do about it because Miss Lucca's daughter is already dead and buried.
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The new girl doesn't have a Rotom phone, ugh…in this day and age, and she doesn't have a Rotom phone!?
Penny thought her luck couldn't get any worse. Get impressed by a weird girl and her Floragato, and now she can't get the plan going because there's nothing she can hack to get her on Team Star's tracks.
Her Rotom phone was broken, apparently, after Penny asked to exchange numbers, trying to pretend she wasn't being sneaky or a total weirdo about it.
"How did it break? I…I'm good with computers and…"
"Oh. A rock fell on it."
"...really?"
But Champion-ranked Nemona interrupted that conversation chasing after the Team Star grunts that had started it all, and Penny, like a coward, had run off too, whispering to the girl that she had a friend that needed her help…
…and that she'll get her a phone for that later.
Juliana just grins like an idiot.
Lucca calls Friede.
It's seven months later; the Brave Asagi had left Paldea to distant Hoenn, because there's nothing to tie them down, and the world goes on…but Friede never forgets.
He's doing better now, talking to Mollie helps, helps Roy, is starting to help Dot, who's back to doing videos again because it keeps her mind busy, away from the past, away from everything.
Lucca gets straight to the point.
"The…mine…they managed to open it…somehow."
Friede is at a loss for words, he tries to form them, tries to do anything, up and down his mouth moves but he can't speak, he can't, he can't not see the danger, the danger, Liko, already dry, already broken beyond…
"She's…she's not there…"
"W-what…?"
"Liko…she's…she's not there. They…they…" A deep breath, something that could mean everything to those that care. "...they think Liko survived the cave-in…she…she might have hit her head…and well…" Friede imagines the tears that fall from Lucca's eyes, the hope they bring to his heart. "...she's somewhere…she's lost and…and…oh, oh…"
Lucca's little girl is alive, lost, but alive.
Friede doesn't waste time; the Brave Asagi is going back, back to Paldea, back to where it all ended, to where it all began…
…they'll find her, they have to.