Carmine's memories continue in this chapter.
Down the League Club room, The Elite Four's moods were not much better than Carmine's, but hoped some food in their bellies would uplift their spirits a little bit. Crispin presented homemade pizza on the table, topped with cheese and an array of meat and veggies. He served the slices onto plates to his friends.
"Hey everyone," Carmine entered the room and sat on the sofa. The four looked up and greeted her back.
"How are you feeling?" Lacey asked with concern.
Carmine sadly shrugged. "I've been better."
"We… saw everything that happened… in Central Plaza with you and Kieran," Lacey told her.
"Oh…" Carmine realized that perhaps everyone down there saw it.
"What he did was…" Lacey shook her head solemnly and made an X with her hands, "Just not right…" She normally would say it very bluntly, but given the situation, all she felt was sadness.
"And that's an understatement, Lacey…" Carmine shook her head, "I've never seen Kieran act like the way he did. He's never been violent towards me. As siblings, we did get on each other's nerves sometimes, but this was beyond anything I experienced with him."
Not wanting to see his friend down, Crispin tried to lighten the mood. "Why don't we eat? Pizza's gonna get cold."
"Sure…" Carmine liked that idea, "Thanks Crispin."
"No prob." Crispin smiled at her. "Oh, uh, I went to Kieran's dorm room and invited him for a bite, but uh… he said no… I came prepared though and gave him his portion of the food. Then he told me to scram and shut the door."
"Ouch. Guess he's not interested then…" Drayton responded, "Still though, who turns down an invite to chow down, am I right?" He playfully said with a smirk.
Lacey sharply shot a look of disapproval at him. "Not the time nor the place, Drayton."
"It was very sweet of you for trying to include him though, Crispin" said Carmine.
"I always believed food tasted better with company," said Crispin, "Hopefully Kieran will come around and start joining us again."
The five league club members went and sat down at the table, eating the pizza. They all gave compliments to Crispin, who blushed a bit at the kind words but felt appreciated at the same time.
Midway through eating, Amarys spoke up. "Carmine?"
"Hmm? What is it?"
Amarys asked her a sensitive topic. "During your… argument with Kieran…" She took a deep breath, "He said not to bring up someone named Juliana. You don't have to talk about this person if it makes you uncomfortable, but if you choose to, what was that about?"
Carmine went silent for a moment, but decided to tell everyone the full story. "Well…"
She explained the whole story to the BB Elite four about meeting the young Paldean girl and how Juliana managed to befriend Kieran so quickly. The three even had fun at their town festival. Carmine and Juliana found Ogerpon, but decided to keep it a secret from Kieran, which led him to having a fallout with his sister and new friend. After their run-in with the Loyal three and eventually revealing Ogerpon's truth, Ogerpon decided to stay with Juliana, devastating Kieran; it was a pokemon he looked up to his whole life. Since the trip, Kieran became obsessed with getting stronger, put himself through harsh training and everything and everyone else he cared about aside.
The BB Elite four were left in a bit of shock, just processing the story Carmine told.
"And that's why Kieran hasn't been himself since…" Carmine sighed in hopelessness.
"Poor Juliana…" Lacey spoke up with a sad expression, "I can't imagine the pain she must be feeling from having gained and lost her friend in such a short amount of time."
"Not to mention Kieran's joy when they did become friends. It was his first time talking to someone without being all shy and timid." Crispin added.
"Only for a misunderstanding to cause a rift in their friendship." Amarys added too, especially considering Kieran's the brother of her close friend.
Drayton was silent the whole time since dinner was put on the table. Even though he and Carmine butted heads on a regular basis, it didn't stop him from caring. "Hey Carmine?"
"What is it, Drayton?" Carmine asked.
Drayton looked at her with sincerity. "Look, I know we don't really see eye to eye, but I want to tell you even though Kieran's change hasn't settled well with anyone… try not to lose hope."
Carmine still felt helpless. "I get what you're saying but were you not there when he pushed me?"
"No, I was there. I saw with my own two eyes," Drayton confirmed. "The point is Kieran's a good kid. I don't know if you saw it but after the push, he looked a bit shocked doing that. I'm no pro at feelings but he kinda looked like he regretted it."
"Really? You saw that?" She asked.
"Lil' bit. He probably did think or soon will think that moment was low even for him." Drayton gave her a small reassuring smile. "He'll come around, I can feel it."
Carmine couldn't believe it but Drayton's words actually touched her. "Wow, Drayton… that's…actually comforting hearing from you…" she warmly smiled a smidge, "Thank you."
"You're welcome." Drayton faced away a bit embarrassed. "Don't get used to it though."
"I don't usually agree with Drayton but if he feels it, then so do I." Lacey was on board.
"Me too!" As did Crispin. "Hopefully Kieran will come to his senses."
"I too wish that Kieran gets better." Amarys went last. "His head's not in a good place right now, and I want to be there both for you and him."
The words of encouragement moved Carmine. She looked up, "Everyone…" and smiled warmly, "Thank you. It means a lot to me that you care about Kieran as much as I do."
"No worries." Lacey smiled back. "It's what friends do."
They continued eating their dinner, all while hoping the best for Carmine's younger brother.
After a heartfelt dinner, Carmine went back to her dorm room, grabbed a chocolate bar and laid on her bed, eating the candy for an after dinner treat. She pulled up her Rotom phone and scrolled through her photo library. One particular photo caught her attention, a recent one. She selected the photo and smiled warmly at it. It was a selfie of her, Kieran, and their new friend, Juliana, having fun at the Festival of Masks. It was bittersweet in a sense that it was the last photo of her younger brother smiling. He was genuinely happy to have a friend in his life. That being said, Juliana made a difference in her life too. She acted cold towards the Naranja Academy student initially, but warmed up to her in a short amount of time. In the end, she was proud to call Juliana her friend and vice versa. She finished her chocolate and shifted her eyes to Kieran, looking at him intensely with care and spoke to him as if it was a face-to-face conversation.
"Kiki…" She tried to find the words to say to him, "I know things with you have changed since the school trip. As a pokemon trainer, you've gotten stronger, but I can see that it's an obsession that's got a hold of you. Training yourself and your pokemon to the ground every day like that must be so draining. Your eyes are missing their light and are covered in bags. You think it's fine, but again, I don't doubt that you must be feeling tired inside and out. There's people worrying about you, little brother: me, the Elite Four, our grandparents, and Juliana too. Juliana was worried when you didn't come and say bye to her at the end of the school trip. You were so thrilled to have a friend come into your life. Your first friend. And although you two only knew each other for three days, she cares very much about you too. And…" Carmine sighed, "Pushing me away such as today and like you have been wasn't right on your part, but maybe you wouldn't be if I had just been honest with you about Ogerpon, and I'm sorry that I wasn't at the time. I'm not the perfect big sister, I make mistakes too." Carmine smiled slightly, figuring she could finish on good terms. "But you're my baby brother and I'm always here for you, even though you're not feeling it right now. I miss you Kiki… and I hope we can be close again someday like when we were young. I love you little brother. Always have and forever will."
Carmine kissed two of her fingers and placed them on photo Kieran's cheek as if it were real.
She really does love him. With all her heart.
Present:
Time was ticking. Kieran's life was at stake. She nearly lost her baby brother to Terapagos. She wasn't gonna lose him again. She told herself that she would be there for him. Now was the time.
She tore the last bit of the banana and held it above Kieran's mouth. "Last bite. You can do it." She encouraged him. Kieran opened his mouth as she fed him the final piece. He chewed slowly for a minute and swallowed it. "Good job, Kiki," Carmine smiled and praised and gave him a little more water to keep him hydrated.
Kieran opened his eyes halfway and looked up at Carmine. "S-Sis? Am I… A-Am I done?" He asked in a weak tone.
"Almost."
Juliana answered and met up with the group with the cup of tea in her hands. Cinderace and Ninetales followed behind her. Meowscarada moved to Carmine's side to make room. Cinderace and Ninetales joined in on Briar's side.
"Juliana? I-Is that you?" Kieran asked.
"Yes. I'm here." Juliana said with a reassuring smile as she knelt down in front of him. "Sit up please," she instructed. Kieran lifted his head first. Carmine and Briar helped out by propping him up into a sitting position. Juliana brought the cup up to his mouth. "Drink this. It'll make you feel better."
Juliana tilted the cup while Kieran slowly drank the tea in small sips. She tilted the cup a little further, making sure he took in every drop. Two minutes later, he took one final sip, prompting Juliana to pull the cup away and place it into her backpack.
Briar and Carmine gently placed Kieran down back on the crystal. Kieran's eyes closed and his body laid still and quiet. All eyes were on him now, hoping Juliana's tea did the trick.
Cinderace leaned in and put his ear over Kieran. A few seconds later, he heard faint but consistent breathing coming out of Kitakami boy's nose and mouth. The rabbit placed a hand on Kieran's chest to make sure. He felt it going up and down, and sighed with relief. Cinderace turned to his trainer to give her the news and nodded. "Cinderace. Cinda."
"Thank goodness. He's breathing." Juliana said equally relieved.
"I think your tea worked. Well done, Juliana," Briar smiled and congratulated her.
"Thank you," said Juliana. She faced her eyes on the sleeping boy and held his left hand with her right. "He's my friend. I just want him to get better."
Meowscarada held her trainer's left hand and patted it. "Meowsca." She told her reassuringly. Cinderace and Ninetales comforted her in poke speak as well, giving Juliana hope.
"Me too," Carmine mirrored what Juliana said. As a big sister, Carmine also hoped to see her sweet little brother all well again. To see him unconscious like he is made her anxious and worried. Please Kiki. Come back to us, Carmine prayed for him.
The teacher, students, and Pokémon continued to monitor the sleeping Kieran. They sent their hopes and wishes to him.
And that concludes Carmine's arc. Next chapter will feature Kieran and his memories.