Chapter 3:

(Okay, so right into it! I will say that this'll be after the battles. Of course, since Carmine's not possessed yet, she's not going all "Mochi Mochi" yet. Anyways, enjoy the chapter!)

After Carmine had lost, Kieran battled with all he could against Nemona, and while his Pokemon had a few good open advantages, in the end, Nemona had beaten Kieran. "That was INCREDIBLE, Kieran!"

Nemona said, expertly passionate. "U-Um, thank you?" Kieran said, unsure with how to take that. "You did great!" Florian said, fist bumping his friend.

"Are you sure? I got completely destroyed…just who IS Nemona, anyway?" Kieran asked. "She's actually a Champion back in Paldea." Florian explained, Kieran's eyes widened when he turned back to Nemona. "Whoa, seriously?! …Ok, yeah, it makes sense she's so good, then."

Kieran said, messing with his hair. Nemona smiled, running straight ahead toward the boys.

"Kieran, you're so good! That was awesome! No wonder you were the Champion of that fancy-pants school of yours!"

Carmine just chuckled, "Yeah, that's right. Blueberry Academy is not to be trifled with, so your jealousy IS certainly warranted…" she said.

"B-But…I couldn't beat you…" Kieran had said, looking to his side.

"Does it really matter? Whether you win or lose, Pokemon battles are a blast!" Nemona explained, cheerfully. Florian sighed, "There she goes again…" he said, sorta cringing. Kieran smiled a bit, "Yeah. That's true."

Arven and Penny walked and joined the rest of the group. "That's Nemona for you. You get used to it." Arven said, folding his arms. "You okay? Feel like running for the hills yet?" Penny said, snarky. "Hey now!" Nemona said, unamused.

Kieran's sweat dropped, nervously. "N-Not at all! It was a lot of fun!" Kieran looked towards his opponent. "Yeah! I really had a lot of fun!" Kieran said, chuckling a little because of their conversation. "See?" Nemona said.

"Okay, time to show you how a real rivalry goes. Florian, I hope you're ready!" Carmine said, passionately. "I'm ready for this to be OVER." Florian said, "Oh come on, at least take the battle seriously!" Carmine said, raising her fists and shaking them aggressively.

"U-Uh, Kieran…don't take this the wrong way, but your sister is…scary…" Penny said, kinda freaked out a little by what she's doing. "N-No, that's pretty much right on the money…"

"WHAT…Did you call me, Kiki?" Carmine said, "Y-Yeah, I said it. J-Just battle Florian and be done with it." Kieran said, growing the backbone he had from when he was BB League Champion.

"F-Fine. We'll show you guys what a real battle looks like!" Carmine said, sending out her Mightyena. "Florian, remember what the dirt tastes like? If not, allow me to help you to it!" Carmine said.

"All right then. Let's go, Neku!" Florian said. Arven noticed something about his best friend's demeanor whenever he spoke to Carmine, "So, Kieran, what's the deal between Flor and your sister? How come he doesn't like her?" Arven said, "Besides the clear evidence that she acts like a maniac." Penny said, snippy. "Uh…I-I'm not sure. It might be from when we first met Florian." Kieran was unsure why he held his Sis with a much higher disdain than most others would normally.

(Later)

"That was incredible, you guys! Carmine, your Sinistcha is so awesome and I can tell it's a really strong partner!" Nemona said, "Aww what, you're jealous that you don't have a great partner like mine, Nemona?" Carmine said, in the effort to make her jealous. "Where can I catch one? You have to know where, right?!" Nemona asked, smiling and completely unfazed by Carmine's words. "U-Uh, I suppose I could show you later."

"Looks like Carmine's little jabs didn't get through at all." Arven said, folding his arms. "It's probably best to ignore her." Florian said, returning to his happier self after leaving the battle. "So, what's up with you, Flor? I don't think anyone's ever really made you that mad before besides my dad." Arven said, "It's a…long story…" Kieran looked a little confused. "Florian, you didn't have that much of a problem with my sis when you guys were hunting down the Loyal Three.

"The Lousy Three was then, Kieran, this is now." Florian said, looking to his side, ashamed of himself. "Look, why don't we call it a day? We can still hang out at the hotel." Florian said. "Hmm…Yeah, good call. Let's head to the inn and we can see what we can do tomorrow." Kieran agreed.

(Later)

Kieran was just talking to the innkeeper about the rooms, while Carmine and Nemona went to go to the store to go get some food. "So, what's the deal, Flor? Why are you so annoyed whenever you talk to Carmine…?" Arven asked, "I feel like that speaks for itself." Penny said, acknowledging Carmine's high and mighty attitude when she presents herself, but acts very bratty when things don't go her way.

"That's…a part of it, but it's mostly with what went down back at Blueberry Academy…" Florian said, which reminded him of what he wanted to do when he came here. Kieran came rushing back to the three of them. "Okay, we should be all good to walk around the inn, so long as we don't break in to any staff rooms. You know how it is." Kieran said, the innkeeper gave them the basic ruleset. "Okay, then. Uh…Kieran, can I talk to you outside? Just us." Florian asked. Kieran looked a little bewildered, but surmised he wanted to talk about the tenseness in the air between them. They were fresh off of being rivals, "Yeah, sure! I don't mind…We can see if my sis and Nemona will come back, too." Florian nodded, smiling as the boys walked outside. "I wonder what that's all about." Penny said, curious. "Don't even think about it. It's clear that it's personal between them." Arven said, thinking it's best to let those two talk. "I know that, genius. I'm just saying…" Penny said.

(Outside)

Kieran and Florian stood outside against the wall. "I…I wanted to apologize." Florian said, Kieran looked to his side, awkwardly. "A-Again?" He asked him, feeling like Florian has apologized too much. "No, but for real…I want to apologize. For taking Ogrepon, for beating you at the BB League." Florian said, feeling the weight on his heart catch up to him when he started tearing up. "I-I'm a horrible friend…" Kieran looked back, "N-No! Florian, d-don't say that! If anyone was a bad friend, it was me…I took things too far, and…I-I was horrible when I was Champion, so I needed sense knocked into me." Kieran said.

"That wouldn't have happened if I had just been honest with you, though. If I didn't listen to your narcissist of a sister, we wouldn't have fought…I'm so sorry, Kieran." Florian said, realizing he still shouldn't hold it completely against Carmine. "Is this really gonna go on…?" Kieran asked, feeling sad. "W-Why don't we start over? You know, like we promised after we caught Terapagos!" Kieran said, trying to move on.

"I-I'd like us to be real friends again." Florian said, smiling a little. Florian pulled out a Pokéball and held it out. "What's this?" Kieran asked, "Here. I want YOU to have Ogrepon." Florian said, "W-What?! N-No way, I-I shouldn't!" Kieran said, shocked.

"B-But it's your dream Pokemon, right?" Florian asked, "Y-Yeah, but…I was so obsessed that I didn't consider Ogrepon's feelings at all." Kieran said, shaking his head.

"You need to keep her, Florian. I'm clearly not the ideal person to take care of Ogrepon." Kieran explained to him.

"O-Okay…" Florian said. "Still…friends?"

Kieran smiled, "Friends!"

Florian and Kieran high-fived and pulled each other in for a hug.

(Later)

Kieran and Florian helped Nemona and Carmine bring their snacks and drinks inside. "I got some soda!" Nemona had said, "Sugar and carbonation—my two love languages!" Penny said, running up to Nemona.

"Strangely enough the shopkeeper at Peachy's wasn't there, so I just left some money on the counter." Nemona wondered if that was okay, "It'll be no big deal, she always steps out from time to time." Carmine explained, "Yeah, that's not something you can get away with back in Paldea." Arven said, folding his arms.

"Oh, and our Gran said she'd bring some desserts she made earlier for the neighbors, later." Carmine wouldn't mind some leftovers of her Gran's desserts right about now. "Oh! That sounds great!" Arven said, now looking at the tv. "Hey, Kieran. D'you have any idea how to change the channel on this TV? It just keeps playing this same tourism video over and over!" The others looked back at the tv, "Oh—the caretaker hid the remote somewhere, so that video's all we can get on the TV." Kieran explained, "Oh! Sounds like a new treasure hunt waiting to happen." Florian said, "Oh, I love that idea. Try not to be too enamored by my grade-a treasure hunting skills." Carmine said.

"Ok, crew! New goal: find that clicker so we can all watch a movie or something!" Arven said, getting pumped!

"It's gotta be somewhere, right?! We just need to find it!" Arven suggested, Kieran admitted that he never thought about that. "Time to search this place from top to bottom! And then I vote we play games up on that big screen!" Penny said, "Good call! Lucky I brought the Switch for Pokkén Tournament!" Florian said.

"Haha, it's like our own little Treasure Hunt! Everyone, grab a corner and start searching!" Nemona said. "Hahaha! This should be fun!" Carmine said, waving her hands in a celebratory fashion.

"So, Flor! You agree my plan is genius, right?" Arven asked. "Why don't we add a stake to whoever finds it?" Florian said, trying to make this more fun.

Kieran put his finger up to his chin, and smiled when he figured out a good one. "Let's say…whoever finds the remote gets to decide what we do!" He said, running off to his search. Arven looked annoyed, "Hey! Kieran! No fair getting a head start!" Arven said, running off after where he was going.

"I'll check outside. Not only will that keep things more fun, but Gran should be here with the snacks, later!" Carmine said, "Good idea! I'll come with to help you out!" Nemona said. Florian and Penny smiled, "So, you clear things up with Kieran?" Penny asked. "Y-Yeah. Sorry about how I was acting earlier, Penny." Florian said, "No big deal. Though, if you still have a problem with Carmine, you should talk to her about it." Penny said, "Anyways, if I find it first, I'll make you play Fortnite~!" Penny teased. Florian cringed.

"Not before I find it first and make you watch Space Jam 2!" He said.

And thus, the race to find a tv remote raged on. But all the same, Florian hopefully fixed his friendship with Kieran. This should be a great night to remember!

(Okay, we're at the end! I hope u guys enjoyed this chapter! So, Kieran and Florian finally make up and spare each other from the awkwardness. One thing I loved about the epilogue was the banter between the characters, so I hope I nailed it. Carmine and Nemona are looking around while waiting for more snacks…I wonder what'll happen. Anyways, stay strong and awesome!)

Psalm 23:4 KJV

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil:

for thou art with me; Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.