Kieran felt a shiver run down his neck, as if the eyes of a predator were on him. The blood rushing in his ears almost muted the desperate pleas of his soon-to-be former apprentice. He looked in his peripherals to try and catch a glimpse of who or what had been observing him, but all he could catch was a blur of auburn. No, not here. The boy's heart thudded in his chest at the familiarity of the color, but he quickly shook it off. There's no way she was here. Her class had gone back home after the trip was over. Glancing down at the young man groveling at his feet, Kieran felt generous. He'd give him one chance: If he could beat him in a battle, he could stay in the club. After all, nothing is impossible.

Later that afternoon, Kieran was supervising a club exercise when one of the members approached.

"Champion Kieran? Drayton has requested you join him for lunch."

"Tell him no thanks," He sighed, already tired of this nonsense from the Dragon specialist.

"No was not an option, sir."

Cursing quietly to himself, Kieran made his way to the cafeteria. On the way, he was joined by the remaining Elite 4 members. They looked just as annoyed as him. As they entered the cafeteria, it was automatically apparent where their final member was sitting. With his custom uniform and lazy posture, he was hard to miss. Kieran approached the table quickly, wanting to get this over with.

"What do you want Drayton?"

"I thought we could have a bite to eat together," The older boy replied easily, "Enjoy each other's company like the good ol' days."

"Thanks, but no thanks." The champion shook his head and turned to leave.

"Aw, don't be like that. After all, your friend came all this way to join us for a little lunch date."

Kieran froze, eyes staring ahead unblinking. Slowly he moved his head to look at Drayton, then to where a newcomer had sat down at the boy's left. Dark lashes fringed warm green eyes, bright and friendly as they took him in. Auburn hair, the color of a Sawsbuck's antlers in fall, framed her face from beneath her Applin-shaped beanie. There was no mistake, this was the girl who had broken his heart and stole his dream.

"Juliana?" His voice came out softer than he'd meant it to.

"Hello Ducklett. It's been a while."

She rose with a grin and came around to hug the shocked young man. Her frame felt smaller against his now, something he couldn't help noting. His hands twitched to hug her back, but a snide comment from Drayton broke him from her spell.

"Ducklett? That's cute."

"When I first arrived in Kitakami, he followed me everywhere like a sweet little Ducklett. I will say, he's not quite so little anymore." She laughed softly, flashing him that smile Kieran had thought was only for him at one point.

He shook himself free of her and stepped back, eyes devoid of any innocence or kindness they'd once held.

"No, I'm not. And my name is Kieran. Only Kieran. We stopped being friends the moment you stole the Ogre from me."

"I won her fair and square, Kieran. And furthermore, I offered her to you afterward and you stormed off!"

"I didn't need your pity then and I sure as hell don't need it now. Why are you here with him anyway?"

"Jules here took an interest in our little League. I thought it might be fun to let her join." Drayton yawned, smirking at the outraged group before him.

Instantly the other Elite four members erupted in protest; Though unprecedented in this situation, nonstudents were barred from joining the league. Kieran stood there silent, however, mind turning with the possibility. If Juliana took on the League, he could finally get his revenge and prove his strength in one fell swoop. There was no question she'd be able to beat the Elite Four; his past experience told him that. But Kieran was stronger now, better than he was before. He'd carefully trained and tailored his team to the point where he no longer felt sentimental towards a single pokemon, only caring about how strong they were. She was strong, but she was sloppy. Juliana didn't care about the subtlety in true strength, instead choosing to "Pick the ones she thought were fun". The champion was pulled from his reverie by Drayton's annoying voice.

"So that's two and two. Alright champ, what do you say?"

"I don't care, but you better not lose to anyone before you face me." He kept his tone controlled and short, turning to stalk away as Juliana looked on with visible concern.

Kieran decided to do a quick walk around the perimeter to clear his head, Of course she'd caught so much attention already, it was like deja vu. He'd been bewitched when she'd appeared too. Acid burned in his throat at the memory. The warmth of her smile when she'd asked his name, the touch of her hand on his shoulder when she declared him her trip buddy. Not even his sister's possessiveness could dampen her mood it seemed. And then he saw her battle and for the first time he felt…envy. Bitter and acrid in his mouth, he couldn't help thinking she was holding back because he was younger. It wasn't until he saw the Ogre come to her that he realized just how true it was. She already chose to ride a dragon of legend as a bicycle, why did Ogrepon have to choose her too?

He brushed past another student, not apologizing. Once the visitors- Juliana included- had gone back home, Kieran had immediately started training. It didn't take him long to challenge and beat every trainer in Blueberry Academy. The Elite Four had been like leaves beneath his feet too. At some point it had gotten too easy and he'd even started to challenge teachers. Nobody could hold a candle to him. Because Kieran already seen true power.

When he challenged Juliana to a battle over who got to keep the Ogre, he didn't realize the true monster he was facing. For the first time, that smile she always seemed to wear slipped and the expression he saw beneath chilled him. The whole time he strove to become her equal, he never realized just how far below her he was. Kieran was annihilated…and humiliated. No wonder she had wanted to befriend his sister behind his back. He was such a loser… After that he had hidden himself away in his room, too embarrassed to face his "friend" and too angry to act rationally. His grandfather had told him she stopped to say goodbye, but he let her go without another meeting. Maybe that's why she'd come to Blueberry Academy, to get her own form of vengeance.

There was a small uproar in the reception hall and Kieran decided to investigate. Unsurprisingly, Juliana and Drayton were at the center of it once more. He was starting to get tired of seeing the Dragon specialist today…

"The Elite Four and Champion already voted to let her join the League. Shouldn't that be approval enough?"

"I'm sorry Mister Drayton, but I'm afraid I don't have the authorization for such a task. You need written approval from a teacher or mentor."

That idiot…However, waiting for approval also would mean taking even longer to get his revenge. Kieran cleared his throat and approached, burningly aware of Juliana's moss-colored eyes staring at him.

"You have my approval. Let her join." He spoke sternly, glaring at the woman intently.

"Y- Yes Champion, right away."

As the aide hopped to her task, he made a point not to look at his friend-turned-rival. This quickly proved to be for nought, however, when he felt something uncomfortably warm and slimy slowly slide up the side of his face. He didn't need to turn to know what it was.

"Disgusting! Koraidon!" He snapped, jumping away from the orange beast. Its feathers spread as it hissed in surprise as a response.

"Oh, relax a little Kiki! You know Speedbump is just happy to see you."

"My name is not Kiki. And you should learn to keep your Pokémon under control if you wish to succeed in the BB League." Despite his agitation, he couldn't help his curiosity. "Seems like the other one is better behaved."

"Sparkplug is mad you didn't say goodbye to us." A coy smile touched her lips. "He wanted to battle you one more time."

"He will get his chance."

The aide announced that the authorization was complete and Kieran nodded, turning around to leave.

"Don't go losing to anyone before you face me."

"I will certainly try."

A wicked, ugly grin crossed Kieran's face at the thought of how devastated she'd be to lose to him after so much hard work.

"Good."

—

A/N: In this universe, Instead of the secondary Koraidon coming from the past and killing Sada, it was Miraidon from the future.

Lemme know in the reviews if anyone would like to read more. Next chapter will be from Juliana's point of view.