Prologue: Kitakami, shortly after Kieran challenged Juliana to battle for the second time. Roughly 2 months prior.
Juliana hummed softly as she set up a picnic for her and Kieran, happy to have found the second signboard. He was seated across the table, an ever present look of caution on his face. His eyebrows furrowed a little as he fed his Yanma a Pecha Berry. She had beaten him without a single Pokémon on her side fainting. Kieran had been completely bewitched by her skill and was eager to share a meal in hopes of understanding how she did what she did.
"What do you like on your sandwich, Ducklett?"
"Apples, I guess. I like the tart kind."
"Got it. Good work today. We're gonna be first for sure."
"Aw, thanks." He smiled softly, hair falling in his face. "By the way…how do you get stronger?"
"Hm?" Julianna looked down at her bag, knowing it was fairly full.
"No, not physically. Your Pokémon are so strong and mine… Carmine is always trying to fight my battles for me at school, literally. It feels like everyone looks down on me because my Pokémon are so weak."
He tugged his bangs a little, watching his Pokémon milling about with hers. Losing always bummed him out, but something about this last bout against her had really stuck. She smiled softly at her friend, setting his sandwich down and sitting beside him. Kieran jumped a little as she bumped him with her shoulder.
"Don't you for a single moment call your Pokémon weak. They are your friends, aren't they?"
"Well yeah, of course. I love them."
"And they love you. That's my secret, Ducklett: friendship. The stronger your bond, the more your Pokémon will be willing to do. Here, I have something for you."
Juliana reached into her TR sleeve and pulled out a stack of 5 TMs that she'd bought in a second half shop. She held them up, his eyes widening a bit.
"What are those?"
"Does anyone around here have a TM reader?"
"My grandpa does. What is it?"
"This is my strongest move, but only certain Pokémon can know it. It's called Return. The more your Pokémon loves you, the harder it'll hit."
"Wowzers…" His voice was hushed in reverence, fingers turning the discs so that they reflected the sun.
"Be careful who you teach them to; they break after use. And they stopped making them when TRs came out, so it's getting harder for me to find them."
"Gotcha. Thanks Juli."
"You're welcome Kiki."
She wrapped her arms around him and he settled comfortably in her hold. Her gift was held tightly in his fingers, soon to be discarded along with his other joys in a drawer in his room.
--
Present
As Juliana got ready for her battle with Kieran, she felt a sense of deja vu. It was almost like when she used to prepare for a contest. The jitters, the sense of pageantry, the terror of failure…she pinched herself. She needed to focus. He was waiting for her and there was no way she would give him the satisfaction of being late. Despite her rush, she paused to check herself one last time in the mirror. Satisfied with what she saw, Juliana went to march out the door and nearly crashed into Lacey and Drayton.
"Whoa! Um, hey guys. What're you doing here?"
"We just wanted to check on you. You look…nice?" Drayton smiled at her with a bit of confusion.
Juliana looked down at herself, a small smile on her face. She wore the traditional yukata that Kieran and Carmine's grandmother had given her. Her hair was up in a bun and had a Fenzendipiti mask pinned to the side. Perhaps she was being a bit dramatic, but her efforts weren't for nothing. Her habit had been to always dress for the occasion and her festival garb seemed the most appropriate. After all, this was supposed to be the end of the rivalry that started back in Kitakami. Not one to get embarrassed, she did a twirl.
"You like it? I wanted to dress up special for the occasion."
Drayton stumbled a little and Lacey huffed, making an X with her hands. Despite this, she looked a little jealous. He seemed to notice this and slung an arm around his classmate.
"Now Lacey, you know I've got enough to go around."
"Nice try, but I'm not buying it. Come on Juliana, everyone is waiting outside."
The girls hooked arms and hurried toward the exit, the older boy behind them. As they walked, Lacey gave her a pep talk about how they wouldn't be upset if she lost her first time. It took everything to keep from bluntly saying that she wasn't going to lose. As they neared the door, Carmine called out to them. She ran over looking like she hadn't slept all night. A melancholy smile crossed her features as she touched Juliana's shoulder.
"Don't hold back, okay? Give him everything you've got."
"That was my plan. I hope you and I will still be okay after this."
"Of course we will. I promise."
Juliana gave her a hug and she sighed quietly, shaking.
"I just want Kiki back…"
"I know, Carmine. Don't worry, I've got this."
She nudged her gently and headed outside with the group right behind her. As they walked, Juliana slowly tuned her posse out and focused on her plan for the battle. In reality she only had one idea; If that failed, she would be flying blind. Her face gave nothing away, eyes bright with excitement. Fuji broke out of her pokeball and rested on her shoulder, eyes narrowed in determination. They had trained hard precisely for this moment. There was no losing today.
The group stepped outside and headed down the path, either side lined with students. She could hear recurring sentiments among them as they passed. That she was showing off, that she shouldn't be there, that Kieran was going to destroy her…but there were positive ones too. People speaking up on her behalf, people who believed in her ability to save the League from his obsession. Regardless of what anyone believed, she was certain of one thing: This was going to be an ugly fight. She was going in with no intention of going down and Kieran seemed to have the same mindset. It would really be down to the wire as to who would be the winner, but she had more than a couple tricks up her sleeve.
Kieran met them at the end of the path, a disturbingly calm look on his face. His darkened eyes were focused solely on Juliana, reminding her of a predator. His fingers twitched in anticipation for the upcoming battle.
"Kept me waiting."
"I'm two minutes early, Kieran-"
"I worked so hard to show you what I can really do, Juliana," He cut her off, unblinking. "I put everything into studying and making my Pokémon stronger…"
"Being the strongest isn't everything."
She kept walking, brushing past him. His jaw tensed a little in anger. Kieran pivoted to follow her onto the field, expression contorting to one of rage. Despite the nervous mumbling emanating from the crowd, Juliana just stared at him calmly. She held a pokeball in either hand, waiting.
"I crushed the Elite Four and became Champion…" He snarled, breathing a bit heavier. "All that hard work…All of it."
He took out his own pokeballs, glaring down at them as he gripped them tight. His gaze turned to meet hers and he planted his feet, glaring at her venomous.
"All of it was just so I could beat you– right here, right now!"
Kieran threw first, the balls sailing across the field and landing in the center. His Dragonite and Politoed came out, clouds rolling in as it started to drizzle from his Pokémon's ability.
"I know I'm making the right choice... You'll understand that soon enough!"
Juliana held a hand out to feel the rain and giggled. She laughed at him.
"Seems like we had similar ideas."
With a flourish, she kissed both her pokeballs and threw them into the air. Out popped Flurry and Avalanche, a light snowfall following their arrival. Kieran's eyes widened in disbelief, horrified. Not only was his Politoed weak to grass attacks, but his Dragonite was very weak to ice. His eyes darted back and forth wildly as he calculated the next move to make. Taking advantage of his flustered state, Juliana called out loudly.
"Flurry, use Double Team!"
The Froslass moved about rapidly, already concealed mostly by the snow. At this rate his Pokémon would be hitting air… He seemed to realize that he had to think faster and called his Politoed back. Then he sent out his Incineroar, deciding to leave Dragonite out to at least get a Tailwind up. Fortunately it was fast enough to get the move off before being decimated by an Ice Ball from Avalanche. This allowed him to get his Porygon-Z out safely.
Juliana turned a pokeball in her hand, staring at it pensively. Her Abomasnow went down to a Flare Blitz from Incineroar and she snapped out of it, giving her Pokémon a sympathetic smile.
"You did well, big guy. Take the bench."
She recalled it and sent out an Alcremie, frowning as Kieran barked out an ugly laugh.
"What? No dragon?"
"With time, Kieran." She spoke sagely. "Macaron, give Flurry Helping Hand please."
The little fairy Pokémon hopped about clapping, hyping up its current partner. This only served to make the champion even more amused. His eyes darted to his Incineroar and Juliana felt a chill go down her spine. Holding back a curse, she called out at the same time that he had.
"Flurry, use Destiny Bond on Porygon-Z!"
"Incineroar, Heat Crash and make it hurt."
His Incineroar hurtled toward her Froslass, grazing Porygon as it passed. It pounced on the ice type, but also hit Alcremie in the process. Juliana cried out in worry, running to her Pokémon while Incineroar returned to its side. She didn't look at her former friend as he smugly returned his now-fainted Porygon-Z. She gave both her Pokémon hugs and returned them, standing with a clouded expression.
"How do you like that? See how hard I've trained? Not like the kid you battled in Kitakami, huh?!:
As he gloated, she bent over to gather snow. Carefully crafting it into a ball, she waited for him to turn and threw it at the back of his head. He turned around to glare at her in outrage, the Elite Four members laughing along with his sister.
"I still have three Pokémon left, don't act like you beat me." She deadpanned boredly.
He glowered at her and sent his Politoed back out and switched his Incineroar for Grimmsnarl, crossing his arms once he was finished.
"Well?"
She felt the rain beginning on her palm and giggled. Then she laughed, leaning back to feel it on her face. He stepped back a little, hair prickling. Spinning, she sent out two Pokémon: Sticky, the Gastrodon, and a Dedenne. Kieran ground his teeth in frustration.
"W-What is this?! Where are your dragons? Where are your legendaries?!"
"Now, now Kieran. Don't you think it gets boring using super strong guys like them all the time?"
"You're holding back again! I told you to go all out and y-you're using a Dedenne!" His voice cracked at the sheer absurdity of it all.
"Lord Mochi the Sodden is a very strong member of my team. Now get out of the way before you get shocked."
She waved him off and the boy staggered to his side in disbelief. How dare she dismiss him like that. His fists clenched and he opened his mouth to snap at her in indignation. Looking around at the crowd, he composed himself and took on a stony expression again. His voice was flat as he spoke.
"Politoed, use Ice Beam on Gastrodon."
"Mochi, use Thunder!"
His Politoed was hit by the strike, but survived due to its Wacan Berry. Unfortunately this meant it was able to get the ice beam out. Sticky was struck by the attack and was only able to hold on by a thread. Juliana gave her prized Pokémon a look of understanding, eyes shining with tears.
"Sticky, use Earthquake."
The ground shook and Kieran nearly fell. All the Pokémon on the field went down, including Sticky. Its life orb made sure of that. The two trainers stared each other down across the empty field, the crowd falling silent. Neither challenger moved, anticipating each other's movements. He gripped his pokeball, hand shaking.
"Just go down already! How are you still standing after I've thrown everything I have at you?!"
"Because I have trust that my Pokémon will keep fighting, no matter what happens."
"It's your funeral."
Smiling wildly, Kieran sent out his Hydrapple. Juliana glanced at her shoulder and then looked ahead.
"It's your time to shine, Fuji."
Both the champion and his Pokémon looked on in horror as the Flapple clumsily fluttered down to the field. It sat on the ground and scratched behind its ear, squawking.
"Are you kidding me right now? Am I a joke to you?!"
"What do you mean?" Juliana was taken aback.
"Where's the Ogre? Where are your dragons-"
"That's-"
"Not the Flapple! You still think I'm a little kid, don't you? Your little, stupid Ducklett. Well, I don't need your pity." He was unhinged, eyes void of reason. "I don't need the old me anymore! I've changed... and I'll show you I can change again"
Teeth bared in fury, Kieran ordered his Hydrapple to terastalize. He'd anticipated she'd send out Ogrepon, so he had chosen fighting for at least neutral damage. It would work just as well with her Flapple. He waited to see if she'd do the same. Much to his surprise, she didn't terastalize and instead turned to address her Pokémon.
"Fuji, you and I have been through so much together. You might not be my strongest team member, but you are always going to be my best friend. Even if you don't win today, I'm proud of you for volunteering." Beaming at the dragon, Juliana cried out, "Fuji, use Return!"
Kieran was stunned to silence as the Flapple was engulfed in a glow. Screeching, it catapulted through the air and hit his Hydrapple with enough force to raise dust. When it settled, Fuji fluttered back to Juliana and Hydrapple lay fainted.
"Wha…huh?"
His eyes darted around as the crowd whispered about his loss.
"What was that?"
"The champion lost?"
"How could he lose to the exchange student?"
"Urg…no no no!"
Slowly he sank to his knees, gripping his hair as he tried to hide from their judgemental stares. A little voice whispered to him inside his head, taunting him over and over. Weak, weak, weak. Not good enough.
She started forward to him, but was surged upon by her other friends.
"Congrats, New Champ." Drayton gave Kieran a pointed look.
"Way to go! That fight was red hot!"
"You both did very well."
"Here, let me heal your cuties." Lacey took her hand, but found herself brushed off.
Juliana walked over to Kieran's side, smiling sadly. Her smile fell as she heard him whispering to himself in a manic tone.
"...win…next time…"
"Um, Kieran?" She offered him a hand to get up
He took her hand and got up without meeting her gaze, eyes crazed as he muttered to himself. His hand held onto hers unconsciously.
"I won't lose… Next time, for sure, I'll... I'll win. Next time... I'll win…"
Carmine ran over, calling to them both.
"Jules! Kiki! Is everything over now? Are you two friends again?"
"I was always his friend."
Kieran glanced at her, then down at her hand. Snatching his away, he recalled his Hydrapple and stormed off the field. His sister called out despondently, but was stopped by a gentle touch on the shoulder.
"He needs to cool off. I'll go see him in a little bit, okay?"
"Okay…thanks for beating him."
Juliana watched as he disappeared from sight and slowly shook her head, feeling deep guilt.
"I won't say you're welcome. I was just trying to heal what I hurt."
"I'd say that tough love might be just what he needed."
Unable to bring herself to agree, the new champion simply shrugged and headed to her dorm to heal her team up.
A.N. I know Return isn't in S/V , but I'm taking just a few liberties with such things, a la the anime.