He had lost track of time by this point. He was sitting on a bench in one of the hallways of the Academy, his sister had made him stay there after all that chaos happened. He was shaking and staring at nothing unable to stop crying, he had had a panic attack after his sister took him out of the combat arena, he had screamed and cried, demanding to know where Juliana was and what had happened to her. Carmine couldn't answer his question, she had no way of knowing Juliana's whereabouts or status after her Gardevoir took her away. She tried to calm her brother down, assuring him that if Jabari had taken Juliana somewhere, that place would be the nearest hospital.
Far from calming him down, Kieran had begun to hyperventilate as soon as he heard the mention of the hospital, shaking his head and pulling his hair as he let himself panic, as if he couldn't assimilate that Juliana could have ended up in a hospital because his fault. Carmine had to hold him tightly when, in his fury, Kieran hurt her scalp until he bled, he needed the help of the academy nurse to overcome the crisis.
Now, after an hour, he was sitting on that bench next to Carmine, and it was evident that the guy was not better, his face revealed that he only needed one minimal thing to have another crisis and Carmine was not sure if she could control him when that happens. She looked at her own arms, with scratches and bites given by Kieran in the midst of his alienation. Arceus´sake, she had never seen her brother so scared or so out of control, not even in his worst moments!
She looked at him, alert that at any moment he could lose control again, suppressing the urge to caress his back to give him comfort, she felt that any touch he received would upset him again. Carmine felt so imposing, unable to do anything but sit his side, watching and waiting while anxiety also began to invade her chest about what she was going to happen next.
Something that seemed like it was going to come soon, because Carmine heard footsteps along the hallway and, looking, she found the cold expression of Drayton, who was walking towards them. Carmine swallowed hard whens he saw him with that face, so it meant bad news coming from the always relaxed Drayton. Without sparing Kieran a single glance, Drayton stood next to Carmine, hands in his pockets.
"I found her," he announced and the second Carmine could barely react, Kieran got up from his seat and ran to take him by the shoulders.
"Kiki!" Carmine gasped.
"Where is she?!" Kieran demanded to know with a wild look, but Drayton only returned another one full of coldness. "Drayton, please, tell me something! Tell me she's okay! Please tell me she's okay! I don't want to hear anything else but that!"
"She went into cardiopulmonary arrest" Drayton said without any kind of delicacy, watching as Kieran's face turned into horror.
"What...?" He whispered with barely a thread of voice, slowly releasing Drayton.
"What did you say?!" Carmine exclaimed scared, getting up from her seat. "What do you think she went into...?!
Drayton, ignoring Kieran, answered Carmine.
"Juliana received the full impact of a dragon-type movement and her body crashed against a concrete wall and, as far as I know, humans are not made to withstand something like that and emerge unscathed," he reminded her, without changing his cold tone, even sour. "Several bones in her body have been broken, including her ribs, they have been stuck in her lungs and have begun to fill with blood"
Kieran took a step back, shaking his head and his hands shaking with every word he heard. Broken bones, blood in the lungs, cardiorespiratory arrest...No, this didn't have to end this way, he didn't want to hurt her! She shouldn't be in the hospital! No no no...
"Is she...?" Carmine wanted to ask but she didn't dare to finish the sentence.
"I don't know," Drayton admitted, this time looking more sad. "When I arrived, they had already put her in the operating room for emergency surgery. The doctor told me that she could be hopeful because of how quickly she was taken to the hospital. If it weren't for Jabari using his Teleport and his Heal Pulse maybe she wouldn't have made it to the hospital in time." A low growl from Kieran was noticeable "But when I left, she was still in the operating room."
"She is alone?! Why have you left her alone?!" Kieran exclaimed, totally upset, looking at Drayton with an expression that mixed anger and despair.
"I'm not related, the doctors weren't going to tell me anything else no matter how much I stayed outside waiting."
Kieran shook his head. Juliana was alone, torn between life and death! Why wasn't anyone there with her?! Why was no one waiting for her outside the operating room?! Desperate, Kieran tried to pass by Drayton but he, seeing his intentions, roughly grabbed him by the arm and forced him back with such force that Kieran had to be caught by his sister to prevent him from falling into the floor.
"Where do you think you're going?" Drayton questioned, giving the younger boy a hard look.
"What do you think? "I'm going to the hospital!" he responded, trying to leave again but, again, another push from Drayton forced her to retreat. "Get out of the way!"
"You're not going anywhere, you don't even know which hospital she is in."
"Well, tell me so I can go as soon as possible!" Kieran shouted angrily, about to lunge at Drayton.
"Kiki, calm down!" Carmine exclaimed, holding his brother from behind. "This is not going to help you at all!"
"Let go of me, Carmine! I have to go! She needs me!" He exclaimed, writhing.
"She doesn't need you at all, stupid brat!" Drayton raised his voice, with a tone so irritated that it left the twosiblings still in place, surprised. "You have nothing to do there, Kieran, I remind you that it is your fault that Juliana is being opened like a Magikarp right now."
The younger buy gasped in pure horror and the next thing he felt was Carmine hugging him and pulling him away from Drayton as if he suddenly posed a threat to him.
"How can you tell him that?!" Carmine exclaimed, pressing her brother against her. "This was an accident! A terrible accident. Kieran knows it and he wants to be there for Juliana! He...!"
"He is the one who caused this because he refused to accept that Juliana gave up. He continued attacking Meowscarada when the fight was over and as a result his Pokémon, for which he is responsible, attacked a person."
"Drayton, stop!"
"But I...I didn't want to hurt her...I never..." Kieran whispered shakily.
"Well you did it, Kieran, you did it. You became so obsessed with beating her that you forgot what Pokémon battles meant, you turned something that unites people into something to get revenge on her" he leaned towards Kieran "And the saddest thing about all this is that revenge was not your main objective. Right...?
"I said stop, you idiot!"
"I...I..."
"Well, congratulations, Champion, you had your victory. You have defended your title with all your strength. I hope you're happy with it." and lowering his tone of voice, giving it a very sinister air, he added "But think that if Juliana dies there inside, it will be your fault."
If Juliana dies...
It will be his fault.
An agonized scream came from Kieran's throat and panic once again took control of his body and mind, he wanted to die. He wanted to die right there, stop breathing at that very moment.
"Drayton, you idiot, I told you to stop!" Carmine shouted on the verge of tears, trying to hold her brother who was writhing like a wounded and cornered Pokémon. "I know he was wrong! But he is just a child, you can't put that burden on him and...!"
"This matter is too big for you to protect him, Carmine," said Drayton, totally indifferent to Kieran's attack of hysteria. "You can't do anything for him. My only advice is you prepare him for what is to come."
"What is to come?"
"An investigation will be opened. I'm not sure how they will proceed but it is possible that one of the things that will happen will be that Kieran's Pokémon will be confiscated, it may also happen that there will be a conflict between the Naranja Academy and the Blueberry Academy because one of their students has been injured because of from one of ours, Kieran may even face an expulsion, but that will be the lightest she receives due to his age, and without taking into account what Juliana's family may demand. Maybe you should call your parents and get a defense so Kieran can get out of this more or less unscathed, that is if Juliana survives because if she doesn't, he could face a murder charge."
Carmine felt everything collapse under her feet when she saw the huge problem her brother was in, not just him, their entire family was going to be in a huge problem... And Juliana Oh, Arceus! What if she didn't survive?! She had urged her to help talk some sense into Kieran, she did not intervene when Kieran decided to continue fighting even though Juliana had surrendered. If Juliana died, she would also be responsible for it. Neither she nor her brother could live with that guilt! She wouldn't dare look Juliana's parents in the face and apologize if they lost their daughter!
"I have already taken care of calling Juliana's mother, she will arrive in Castelia City tonight, until then, director Cyrano will take on the role of Juliana's legal guardian for a few hours to be able to receive updates from the doctors until arrival her mother." Drayton sighed, putting his fists inside his pockets. "This is all I can do. All I have left is to hope that poor girl can come home."
And as he finished speaking, Drayton turned to leave, even for a guy like him, the situation had shaken him and it was hard for him to look Kieram in his eyes without feeling the desire to hit him. Drayton was convinced that Juliana was someone important enough to Kieran for him to come to his senses once and for all and end his reign of terror. But no, Kieran's envy towards the girl was stronger, and he had just shown it. If he had known that something like this was going to happen, he would never have involved Juliana in this matter. But that only showed Drayton how unconscious he was, he thought he knew Kieran enough that the presence of the girl he liked could disturb him, but it never entered into his plans that that damn kid could get so far.
"Juliana...Juliana...Juliana..." Kieran sobbed.
Carmine was heartbroken to hear Kieran so destroyed. She wanted to hate Drayton, but she couldn't do it either because although she hated him, he was right, the circumstances were dire, and they needed a miracle. She hugged her brother tightly, crying with him, out of sadness and frustration at the knowledge that she was not going to be able to protect him from this. This was too big for her. She prayed to Arceus, to Mew, to any entity that could listen to her and that had compassion for her brother, that Juliana would be saved and could return home, see her parents and her friends again.
"Kiki, that's it, calm down. Everything will be fine, you'll see!"
"No, nothing is going to be fine... nothing..." he sobbed, hugging her sister, just as if he were a little child. "I didn't want to hurt her, Carmine, I would never have hurt her! Believe me, I wouldn't have done it. I wanted to win, I wanted to be stronger so that she... " he moaned, pressing his face against Carmine's chest "I just wanted her to look at me..."
I just wanted her to look at me...
Kieran...
Kieran!
"Kieran! Wake up!"
He opened his eyes suddenly, feeling as if he had just fallen from a very high place and had to look around, almost scared, until his eyes connected with the smiling face of his teacher, who had her hand on his shoulder.
"You're finally waking up, sleepyhead! I've been calling you for a while," the teacher laughed, amused by the guy's shock. She then pointed to the window. "Take a look, the view is beautyful"
Kieran obeyed and when he looked he could see an extensive city surrounded by a large range of mountains, especially the one where the famous Great Crater of Paldea stood. For a second, Kieran's eyes shone at what she saw. Mesagoza was impressive! But the vast nature around it was also something worth seeing. If it weren't for the size of the city and the danger of the Great Crater, it would remind him a lot of his beloved Mossui Town.
Teacher Briar, delighted to see Kieran's excited expression, let out a laugh.
"It's a beautiful place, right?" She asked, only receiving a nod from the young man. "It's your first time coming to Paldea, right? Don't worry, during the free time we have you can go sightseeing or explore nature, you will surely find very interesting things!"
Kieran clenched his fists as he listened to her, not making his mistaken for not telling him that it wasn't his first time in Paldea.
The rest of the trip, Kieran remained silent, barely answering monosyllables when the chatty Briar tell him several things. The teacher did not seem to give any importance to the young man's silence, assuming that perhaps he was nervous about the new environment or how will be welcomed by the Naranja Academy but Briar was sure there was nothing to worry about! The incident had occurred seven years ago and everything ended well despite the difficulties! It was time to leave the past behind!
As soon as they left the airport, a Flying Taxi hired by director Clavell was waiting for them that would take them directly to the doors of the Naranja Academy. During the ride, Briar talked about all the wonders that Mesagoza had to offer while Kieran listened patiently and went over the key points where he could stop by whenever he had the opportunity.
As soon as they set foot on land, the prestigious Naranja Academy in all its majesty rose before them. Kieran kept his gaze fixed on the spot as he felt his heart skip a beat and a feeling of nervousness wash over him. Finally he was at the Naranja Academy. He wondered himself if Juliana would be in there right now, would she be in class? Maybe in the library? Having any combat in the Recreation Area? But what he wondered most was, did she know she would be there?
It wasn't long before Director Clavell appeared before them with his characteristic elegant demeanor, however Kieran didn't miss the way he looked him over from head to toe as soon as she was in front of them. It was quite uncomfortable, it was evident that the now elderly director had not forgotten the incident from 7 years ago, but Clavell decided to ignore the young man and focused his attention on the teacher.
"Teacher Briar, welcome to Naranja Academy. We are very pleased with your stay in our center, we will ensure that you and your assistant are cared for as they should for the time you remain here."
"We appreciate that you received us. We can't wait to get to work investigating everything we can about Area Zero."
"Of course, but please allow me to guide you to what will be your rooms while you remain here. The trip has been very long and I am sure you will be tired."
Kieran followed the two older ones from behind, feeling a little intimidated when the enormous doors of the Academy opened before him. The hall and the shelves full of books were the first thing the young man noticed before he realized how many heads turned to look at him. Almost immediately, all the students could be heard murmuring among themselves, Kieran couldn't understand them but from the way they looked specifically at him he had an idea of what was going through his mind. Many knew who he was.
Then, in front of the reception desk, Kieran could see two women who looked like they were waiting for them.
He watched them with curiosity as they approached them, and immediately he was able to recognize one of them. The Nemona Champion. Kieran had seen her many times on the online, in broadcasts of championships from various regions, including the Pokémon World Tournament, but the other woman, shorter, was not familiar to him. Could she be a relative or friend of Nemona?
"Oh, yes, before taking you to your rooms, let me introduce you," said Clavell, positioning himself among the young girls. "These are the two champions that the Pokémon League has chosen to be your support during the expeditions to Area Zero. They are..."
Two champions...? Kieran looked curiously at the shorter woman, feeling a shiver as he felt her piercing eyes boring directly into him, as if she wanted to stab him in the forehead. Huh? Why was she looking at him like that?
"Hi! "I'm Nemona, nice to meet you!" Exclaimed enthusiastically, the woman who almost immediately got too close to Kieran so much and so fast that the poor guy almost fell on his back at the invasion of his personal space. "Oh, Arceus! You look like you're super strong! RIGHT?!
"I..." he tried to articulate.
"Of course you have to be! Why else would they send you here with the teacher?! Of course you have to be strong! I've heard a lot from the Blueberry Academy students! You have your own Pokémon League, your own Elite Fourt and your own Champion! That's amazing, as if your academy were its own world apart from all the others! And what title do you have?!"
"Well..."
"Do not tell me! Champion! There is no doubt that you have to be! Only the strongest trainers can go to Area Zero, and if the Super has allowed a student from another academy to come with us, IT'S BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO BE A CHAMPION!"
"Yes...?" He stammered barely, his eyes already spiraling before Nemona's intensity.
"I am also a Champion, you know! So that means we have to engage in combat now! RIGHT NOW! Let me try firsthand how strong someone from BlueBerry Acade...!"
Then the woman finally shut up suddenly as soon as she felt a sharp tug on her right ear. She whimpered in pain as she was pulled away from Kieran.
"Are you not able to behave even when they come to visit us from another region? Really..." the other woman hissed."This is why the Super thinks twice before choosing you to help anyone, you're always scaring people away! Very unprofessional for a Champion."
"Sorry Sorry! Please, Penny, you're hurting me!" Nemona moaned piteously before the one called Penny let her go and as if nothing had happened, she fixed her bangs while Nemona caressed her ear.
"Well, that's the Champion Nemona, as you can see she is a great fighting enthusiast, she has been holding the title for eleven years "he laughed, amused when he saw that the young women was pouting at her partner."And she is the Champion Penny, who has held her title for five years. Don't be fooled by her appearance, she is a cunning and organized strategist".
Kieran looked confused at the one called Penny who was right now adjusting her glasses on her face. Are she really a Champion? Her face was not familiar to him, but it is true that she had heard her name a few years ago. Perhaps she had not participated in any competition again after obtaining the title?
But leaving that aside, Kieran looked from her to the director. Were those two women the ones who were going to accompany them? He understood that Nemona was coming, but Penny? Where was Juliana? She was a veteran, she even had more titles than Paldea Champion. Why wasn't she there?
"I had heard for a long time about Champion Nemona," Briar said, looking at both women curiously. "But I'm afraid I haven't heard much from you, Champion Penny."
"It's not that I promoted myself much after I won the Pokémon League. I prefer to maintain my anonymity and I'm not crazy about battles like Nemona," she answered, shrugging her shoulders.
Kieran felt the need to ask, but he stopped short as soon as he saw the murderous look Penny sent her. What was wrong with that woman?
"Well, these two kind ladies will be the ones who accompany you on the expeditions, I wanted to introduce them to you first of all, I figured it was a good idea for you to get to know each other first to strengthen ties."
"Are they really going to stay in the Academy's dormitories?" Penny questioned, crossing her arms, without ever concealing that she didn't like that idea at all.
"Indeed, miss, teacher Briar will stay in the staff dormitories and young Kieran will stay in the student dormitories. It will be as if he had come on exchange."
That last sentence felt like a hint that Kieran tried to take as best she could.
"We appreciate their hospitality..." he whispered.
"Well, don't talk anymore!" Nemona exclaimed, totally oblivious to the tense atmosphere, putting her arm around Kieran's neck. "Director Clavell, let me take charge of guiding. What was your name?" Oh yes, Kieran! Let me take care of guiding Kieran to his new room."
"I didn't expect anything less from you, young Nemona," the director shrugged his shoulders before handing her a key. "It's room 1822."
"Great! This way we can talk and get to know each other better since we are going to be companions"
"Don't count on me" Noa denied, turning around to leave. "I'm too busy to be a babysitter, let alone a foreigner."
"Ah? But Penny, you're also a foreigner...!" she protested when she saw her walk away from their without looking behind her. "Always so rude... Don't worry about her, Kieran! Penny deep down is a lovely girl but you have to know her to be able to see beneath her layers and layers of angry Skitty, now what were we going to do?
"Ems..."
"Oh, yes, your room! Come on, let's not waste time! The sooner we do it, the sooner we will have a battle!"
The next thing Kieran could feel was that he was being carried around like a rag doll, running through the hallways and up stairs as if his weight meant nothing to her! How was it possible that that woman had so much strength? ! Was she even human?!
"Here we are! Your new room!" She exclaimed when she stopped in front of a door and used the key to open it. "I hope you like it and it feels like your home the time you stay here!"
The room Kieran found was a bit disappointing. It's not that he expected much but the truth is that he at least thought that he would receive a different space because it certainly looked like a replica of his own room at the Blueberry Academy!
Thinking about that made him remember something that Carmine told him a long time ago, and that is that when she guided Juliana to her room at the Blueberry Academy, Juliana thought it was very funny to find that this was the same as her room at the Naranja Academy as if both schools had agreed to have the same type of dormitory.
Kieran sighed melancholy, how he would have liked to have asked Juliana what he thought of school... but he had to find out all those things from Carmine because he had his head up his own ass to do it himself.
"Come on, leave your things on the bed, you can unpack after you've had dinner, we have a very good cafeteria! Surely it will have nothing to envy of your school food."
Kieran looked at the talkative woman, damn if she talks more than teacher Briar! He had noticed that she didn't seem to know who he was, unlike her friend, because of the way she spoke so confidently with him as if he really were a total and complete stranger to those at Naranja Academy. Would it be wise...?
"Hey, Nemona, right?"
"Yeah!"
"I'm just curious, I know that in Paldea you have several champions and that most of them are from here, from the Naranja Academy."
Nemona nodded proudly.
"Yes, it is something that this school is proud of. I don't understand much of this, but it seems to be an honor that many of the Naranja Academy. For my side, I tell you that I don't care too much about that, but I love knowing that I have several strong schoolmates with whom I can have ruthless battles! This was something unthinkable years ago!"
"Yes, that must be great...but, by chance, is Champion Juliana still part of the Naranja Academy?"
He knew it was like that, if Juliana had lost her title or transferred to another school, he would know. Her popularity had crossed borders, especially due to her participation in the Pokémon World Tournament, so the press was always aware of her. And he was always aware of her in one way or another, despite how difficult it was to follow her movements due to her little interaction with the network.
"Oh, of course you were going to be interested in meeting Juliana," she laughed mischievously, coming to touch Kieran´s cheek with her finger. "You're her fan, right?" I know a die-hard fan when I see one."
"Me...? A fan...?"
"Yeah! You are not the first person who comes wanting to meet one of the Naranja Academy Champions. Everyone wants to fight or have a photo with us! Although personally, I prefer the fighting part."
"Y...yes, you're right. You caught me," he whispered, feeling the situation somewhat ridiculous but the truth was convenient for him. "I met her a few years ago and her way of fighting... captivated me, you know." He sighed melancholy since that part was no lie. " and I always wanted to become as strong as her, to see her again and for her... well, to see me.
"Aw! You are so cute," Nemona laughed enthusiastically, making Kieran blush in embarrassment. "For your luck, you have Juliana's best friend in front of you."
"Ah...? Her best friend?"
"Yeah! I met Juliana many years ago, when she was only ten years old and she started attending the Academy. I was already a champion at that time and I supported her since the first moment I saw her so that she could get her first Pokémon and aspire for the title. Even as a child she had such a desire to improve...!" Nemona made a strange noise, like a contained screech "I became her first rival and obstacle to overcome and we also became great friends! You can't imagine how proud I felt when that little girl who was just starting out with her little Springatito had managed to advance so much as to surpass me."
Kieran was stunned by what he heard, that story...it was very similar to what he himself experienced with Juliana, but in appearance it was like a totally colorful version full of happiness. The intense and crazy woman in front of him was the one Juliana's first rival and best friend? A pang of annoyance was present in his chest and Kieran wanted to hit himself for feeling such a thing, really? Jealousy at this point...? Juliana had a life before meeting him.
"But I'm sorry to tell you that Juliana is not at the Academy at the moment," Nemona said then. "She left a couple of months ago on an expedition with a friend. She does that a lot, she has always preferred field work to theory."
Kieran lowered his shoulders, totally disappointed to hear that and it must have been very noticeable, because Nemona gave him an apologetic smile and rushed to try to cheer him up.
"But you don't have to worry, maybe you'll be lucky to meet her while you're here! When that happens, I'll introduce her to you myself. I'm sure Juliana will be happy to see one of her fans become good enough to be a recognized champion at his school!"
"Yes, I'm sure of it..." he sighed without any hope in it.
Great, all of his motivations for being in that place had just been ruined. Now what? Well, no, he couldn't lose motivation. Juliana was still a student and the investigation of the Great Crater of Paldea could take a long time, so there was indeed a chance of meeting Juliana in the near future.
"So do you want to go to dinner? Then we can have a battle, I'm really dying to see what kind of champion the Blueberry Academy have!"
Kieran looked at the woman's face and thought for a moment about the things he could get out of her if he approached her. Nemona proclaimed herself Juliana's first rival, this woman was the one who inspired Juliana to become the entrancer that he admired and envied. Nemona also proclaimed herself to be Juliana's best friend. Thinking about it made Kieran feel the heat of jealousy close to his stomach, he had felt it before, always when it was in relation to Juliana, and it bothered him to have those kinds of emotions as if Juliana hadn't had close relationships before knew him.
He wanted to think that he was his best friend, at least that...
"It would be fine, Champion Nemona". Kieran smiled, shaking the girl's hand. "I'm also curious to see the level of Paldea's champions."
Nemona, in response, smiled broadly, this would be so much fun!
/*/*/*/*/
He was dead!
He didn't know what he was thinking when he decided to accept Nemona's challenge, that woman was totally and absolutely crazy! She had made him fight 15 times! 15 damn times! How was it possible that she was doing so well when he was already for died?
"Oh, come on, it's not possible that you're already tired! " Nemona laughed as if she had been told a joke and Kieran immediately hated her when he saw that there was not a single drop of sweat on her face. "Yes, barely. The fun is starting!"
No, seriously, was that woman even a human being? Because he was going to start thinking she was a Zoroak using his ability to cause mischief!
Arceus, now he understood and deeply pitied Juliana for having had such an indomitable beast as her first rival from such an early age, so normal that she had become so strong!
"Come on! This is not over yet... " she said, taking out a poke ball to Kieran's horror "Let's have another battle, it's sure to be...!"
Then the sound of an incoming call echoed. Nemona quickly corrected her posture and turned around to answer. Immediately, she was immersed in a happy conversation that Kieran could barely understand but that he took advantage of to discreetly take out his Cramorant, who was exhausted from the previous fights, and that he had to rush to heal him so that he could get him out of there before the end of the call.
Yes, that's how Kieran ran away from there like a Rattata being chased by an Ekans.
And fearing that Nemona might go looking for him in his room, Kieran headed towards the roof of the academy, hoping that she couldn't find him there. At least if he was there long enough, there was a chance that Nemona would give up and leave him alone until the next day.
"Although I doubt someone like her knows what "give up" means." he commented to himself after landing.
Then something caught his attention, a voice that could be heard in the distance. Was there someone on the roof? He looked for the origin of that voice, walking around the area a little, moved by curiosity as to who would be in that place at that time. As he turned a corner, he could see the figure of a woman standing right at the edge while she seemed to be looking at some point in the night sky and the breeze swayed her short messy blue hair. The fact that she was wearing a uniform made it clear that that woman was a student possibly university from Naranja Academy.
But she was dangerously close to the edge, a wrong step and fall would be brutal. He supposed the woman must have Pokémon with her if she felt so confident being in that position but that was still very irresponsible! She might not have enough reaction to call one of her Pokémon to save her in the middle of a free fall several meters high!
"Hey! You mustn´t be so close to the edge, it's very dangerous!" Kieran said, approaching the young woman.
When she turned around, Kieran froze in place as red eyes locked onto him. That look stole his breath in a second and he stood gawking at the girl's barely visible face, hypnotized by that red gaze. For Kieran, it was like his world had been shaken in a second. Who... was she? A barely audible "Wowzers..." escaped his lips.
Kieran blushed when he heard himself, going so far as to cover his mouth with his hand, as if he wanted to prevent anything else from coming out without his consent, but what the hell?
"Paradox...?"
Kieran blinked in confusion, as if he had just woken up from a daydream. Had the young woman told him something? But he was still too stunned to say anything coherent. What was wrong with him? The woman, from what he could tell, was also looking at him confused, maybe even bewildered? Kieran didn't know what to say nor did she seem to know either, but she was still very close to the edge and Kieran felt more urgency than before to get her down from there, he didn't know why, but he had to get her down from there! He stepped forward, raising his hand slightly toward her.
Then she jumped back and fell into the void.
Kieran almost screamed as soon as he saw his disappear and ran towards the edge, even crashing into the edge itself, looking into space, only to find that there was no one at the bottom. An unconscious sigh left his lips.
He then raised his head, just as a growl echoed out, a sound that was familiar to him.
"Koraidon...?"
But there was no one there.
CONTINUARÁ...maybe.